Children swim inches from polar bears-Canada

Polar scare! Children swim inches from monster bears (but don't worry, there's a glass barrier below the surface)

By DAILY MAIL REPORTER
Last updated at 12:21 PM on 8th February 2011

It's a heart-in-the-mouth moment that would have most parents running for help.

The world's biggest predator the polar bear is seemingly pictured paddling menacingly alongside unsuspecting children.

In these remarkable images the massive carnivores loom over their bite-size pool companions in what looks an imminent disaster.

Close enough to touch: Children swim perilously close to two enormous polar bears as one rises up out of the water

But there's more to these pictures than meets the eye, as in fact the children and the inquisitive polar bears are separated by 10-inch thick plexiglas.

Both children and bears are actually very safely taking part in an amazing initiative by the owners of Cochrane Polar Bear Habitat, Canada, in a attempt to promote awareness about the amazing animals.

The sanctuary only takes in rescued bears from the wild and through letting visitors get so close they hope to help understanding and reduce hunting in the wild.

Former director at the centre and keen photographer Gerry Robichaud took the amazing photographs of the moment bear meets man in the safety of the tank.

He said: 'You do get some very surprised reactions from visitors when they first see the bears and the children in the pool.

'When you're in the water and up by the glass next to these animals it barely seems like there is anything protecting you, when in fact there's a 10-inch think barrier.

They're behind you: A child keeps his head above water as the two bears swim towards him - but everything is not as it seems

'We get various reactions from the children, some of them can't wait to get in the pool and others really don't want to. It's the adults you have to watch out for, some of them jump in still with all their clothes on.

'The two bears in the pictures are actually females, Aurora and Nikita, both who we took in as rescue animals.

'They came to us a cubs after a tribe told us about them because their mother had been shot by a hunter near Winisk, near the Hudson Bay in the far north.'

Gerry, 59, said the aim was to give the bears as much stimulation as possible in their 100m by 200m enclosure.

He said: 'I have been in the water myself when the public have not been here and actually realised one of the bears was stalking me, she was hiding and keeping very low in the water. It was quite an odd feeling.

'I have lived in the far north with the people up there myself and documented their lives, it's a different world up there.'

Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1354786/Children-swim-inches-monster-polar-bears.html#ixzz1DNI0SX1C