Polar Bear Pass

Polar Bear Pass is a 262,400 hectare wetland and mountain pass on Bathurst Island in Nunavut, Canada, and an International Biological Program site. It was designated a Ramsar site on May 24, 1982,Cite web
url=http://www.mb.ec.gc.ca/nature/whp/ramsar/df02s02.en.html
title=Polar Bear Pass National Wildlife Area, Nunavut - Ramsar Site
publisher=Environment Canada
accessdate=2008-01-27] and a National Wildlife Area in 1990. Its name is derived from the polar bears that migrate through the region between March and November each year.Cite web
url=http://www.ramsar.org/profile/profiles_canada.htm
title=The Annotated Ramsar List: Canada
work=The Annotated Ramsar List of Wetlands of International Importance
publisher=Ramsar Convention Bureau
accessdate=2008-01-27] The site is on federal Crown land, and is administered by the Canadian Wildlife Service, a division of Environment Canada, with respect to the Canada Wildlife Act's National Wildlife Area Regulations. Land use is also subject to the Nunavut Land Claims Agreement. The area's boundaries are being reviewed. To the north is the area for the proposed Tuktusiuqvialuk National Park.Cite web
url=http://atlas.nrcan.gc.ca/site/english/maps/peopleandsociety/nunavut/specialplaces/nationalparks/1
title=National Parks in Nunavut
work=The Atlas of Canada
publisher=Natural Resources Canada
accessdate=2008-01-27]

The wetland exists within a tundra desert in the high Arctic. It is a staging area for migratory birds, as well as a breeding area for numerous bird species. The large insect population is an ample food source for these birds.

Various water features are located throughout the site, including lakes, tundra ponds and meadows. Vegetation consists primarily of "grasses, sedges, mosses and lichens", as well as a diversity of flowering plants.

An ecological research station is located on the site. Various studies have been conducted in the area, including those on the endangered Peary Caribou by the Canadian Wildlife Service. Currently, the territorial government is funding studies on muskoxen and caribou in the region.

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