Case Study: Polar Bears International achieves real-time polar-bear detection and automated alerts with Milestone Systems

A Frontier Town, Polar Bears, and the Open-Platform Video Surveillance Community

Polar Bears International worked with the town of Churchill, Manitoba — a remote community of about 1,000 that sees nearly 10,000 fall tourists — to address rising human–bear encounters as climate change lengthens ice‑free periods and more bears wander into town. Seasonal response calls topped 300 in 2016, creating safety risks and costly 24‑hour patrol demands that prompted managers and conservationists to look for a technology‑based solution.

Milestone, NMS Security and SpotterRF deployed a pilot camera/radar system (Canon PTZ camera, SpotterRF compact radars, Milestone XProtect VMS) mounted on a key public building. The integrated system detects bears roughly 400 m out, sends automatic alerts, and provides real‑time location and video for remote visual confirmation, improving warning times, reducing reliance on continuous patrols, and demonstrating a scalable approach that partners say can be replicated in other human–wildlife conflict zones.

Polar Bears International

BJ Kirschoffer

Director of Field Operations