This pie chart describes the results of a survey of polar bears at four locations in Western Hudson Bay in Canada in two years, 1985 and 1995.In general, the number of bears decreased over the ten-year period. However, one region experienced a minor increase in its bear population.
First, there was a considerable drop in the total number of bears in the overall Western Hudson Bay area. To be specific, the population fell by about a third, from 881 polar bears in 1985 to only 575 ten years later. It is interesting to note that despite the sharp decline in numbers, the proportion of bears remained stable in two of the study areas, Cape Tatnam Southeast and Churchill North; these accounted for about half of the total bears. Meanwhile,the proportion of bears found in Churchill Southeast dramatically decreased from approximately a quarter to about an eighth of the total population. By contrast, the number of Cape Tatnam North bears actually increased slightly over the same time period. Even though there were only six more bears in Cape Tatnam North, its percentage of total bears increased from about a quarter to about a third.
Comparing the charts, it is clear that overall, there was not only a significant reduction in the polar bear population in the Western Hudson Bay area between 1985 and 1995, but also a change in the distribution of the animals.