Inside the World’s Most Extreme PMC Job: Polar Bear Guards

These private military contractors aren’t worried about gunfire or insurgents. Their mission is a different kind of high-stakes job: they’re “Bear Guards.” Stationed in some of the world’s coldest, harshest areas—like Siberia and northern Canada—their role is to protect small communities, isolated research teams, and tourists from one of nature’s deadliest predators, the polar bear. With an array of non-lethal tools from air horns to flares, these PMC operatives rely on every method possible to deter these intelligent, highly-patient hunters. However, when push comes to shove, they’re equipped with AR-10 rifles as the final measure to ensure human safety if a bear attack becomes imminent.