Summer is the season of plenty for most animals, but not polar bears. Unable to hunt seals until the sea freezes over again, they grow hungrier by the day. For other animals summer is when youngsters must learn how to survive.

Spring is late this year, and when it finally arrives, the race is on to find a mate and start a family. Black bears and beavers in the west, wood frogs in the south and 20,000 gannets in the east all have one thing on their minds.

Canada is in the grip of snow and ice, and animals are struggling. But while some animals hunker down, others have babies to raise.

With days growing shorter and colder, Canadian wildlife is in a race against time, and any animal that fails to make the most of what autumn has to offer will perish.