Children paddle with giant polar predators

Remarkable images of polar bears paddling with children have been released to help reduce hunting of the enormous beasts.



The carnivores loom over their bite-size pool companions in what looks like an imminent disaster, but there is more to the situation than meets the eye. The optical illusion is created at a Canadian holiday resort where children are encouraged to swim with the world's largest land predator.

All that separates them is a 25cm (10in) thick sheet of glass installed by bosses at Cochrane Polar Bear Habitat near Ontario.


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The aim of the set-up is to help raise understanding of the creatures and reduce hunting in the wild. The bears in the enclosure, Aurora and Nikita, arrived as cubs from Hudson Bay after a hunter shot their mother.