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Post by Gorilla king on Jul 15, 2021 7:23:38 GMT -5
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Post by Gorilla king on Jul 18, 2021 15:50:33 GMT -5
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Post by Gorilla king on Jul 19, 2021 9:54:02 GMT -5
Activists say 2 Syrian brown bears in Lebanon flown to US
HANAWAY, Lebanon (AP) — Two bears that had been held in small cement cages for more than a decade in Lebanon will be flown to the United States, where they will be released into the wild, activists said Sunday.
Animals Lebanon, a Beirut-based group, said the two Syrian brown bears, now named Homer and Ulysses, were rescued from a private zoo in southern Lebanon.
The two bears were freed after animal rights activists convinced the zoo owner that they deserve a place better than the small cages where they had been kept for over 10 years. The bears had been in the village of Hanaway near the southern port city of Tyre.
"No animal should have to live in such terrible conditions, without proper food, veterinary care, or housing,” said Jason Mier, Animals Lebanon director.
“For the first time in their life they can actually be bears, with large natural enclosures, and the ability to experience and enjoy their days,” he added.
On Sunday, the bears, each weighing about 130 kilograms (286 pounds) were darted to sedate them, given a quick medical check, then moved into large metal transport crates for the journey.
They were driven to Beirut’s Rafik Hariri International Airport where they will be put on a plane to the United Arab Emirates. From there, they will fly to Chicago. They will then be driven to the Wild Animal Sanctuary in Colorado.
The Wild Animal Sanctuary cares for hundreds of lions, tigers, bears, wolves and other animals. They include a fox and a wallaby rescued earlier by Animals Lebanon.
Animals Lebanon has closed four substandard zoos by rehoming animals to sanctuaries in the U.S., Britain, European Union and South Africa.
Bears and other endangered animals are still kept as exotic pets and in private zoos in Lebanon.
The flight from Beirut had been delayed twice, first when the country’s severe economic crisis began nearly two years ago and then amid coronavirus restrictions that closed the airport for weeks.
www.google.com/amp/s/news.yahoo.com/amphtml/activists-2-syrian-brown-bears-130213790.html
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Post by Gorilla king on Jul 21, 2021 5:54:52 GMT -5
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Post by Gorilla king on Jul 29, 2021 8:06:47 GMT -5
Sigh of relief as famous brown bear Otis is spotted in Alaska
A Tuesday night sighting of Bear 480 Otis, one of the oldest and most popular brown bears in Alaska’s Katmai National Park & Preserve, was a moment worthy of celebration.
“Otis is indeed in the house,” the park announced Wednesday on Facebook. “480 Otis is one of our oldest and probably most beloved bear. He has been missing in action. Last year he arrived at the Brooks River on June 23rd. The latest he has ever arrived is July 17th. We were concerned.”
The male brown bear, first identified in 2001 as a subadult or young adult, is believed to be 25 or 26 years old.
Bear 480 Otis is a fixture at Brooks Falls and an occasional star on the park’s live bear cam. He was the inspiration for the 2008 Katmai National Park booster pin. Footage of Otis appears in the 2014 Disneynature Movie, “Bears.”
Otis is a past winner of the park’s annual Fat Bear Week competition, which celebrates “all the hard work that these bears do to survive and thrive and get through six months of starvation,” Naomi Boak, a park media ranger, told the Washington Post.
But as Bear 480 Otis ages, park employees and the bruin’s many fans become worried when he does not arrive at the river in the same timely manner as younger bears.
On Wednesday a bear-cam viewer who had not heard the good news commented, “Otis is a master fisher bear! The younger bears should watch and learn. Come back soon Otis, miss you already.”
The park concluded its Facebook announcement by stating, “Brown bears lead challenging lives and 26 is quite an achievement, especially for a male bear. So celebrate the return of Bear 480 Otis with us!”
www.google.com/amp/s/ftw.usatoday.com/2021/07/sigh-of-relief-beloved-brown-bear-480-otis-alive-well-katmai-national-park/amp
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Post by Gorilla king on Aug 1, 2021 12:37:38 GMT -5
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Post by Gorilla king on Aug 4, 2021 9:10:27 GMT -5
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Post by tyrannosaurs on Aug 5, 2021 19:38:08 GMT -5
'Hey, big boy!' Nerve-wracking moment a huge bear lumbers back and forth past tourists in Alaska - as their guide calmly greets it: This is the breathtaking moment a massive grizzly bear strolled within a few feet of a group of tourists at a remote Alaskan nature reserve. The video, which was shot by Cara Siciliano in Alaska’s Katmai National Park, shows the bear suddenly appearing along a path approaching from the left of the shot. In the footage, a man can be heard calmly repeating 'Hey bear,' and 'Hey, big boy!' as the grizzly lumbers past the party. The huge beast stops in front of a sign announcing there are bears in the area, as if reading it, before turning on its heel and walking back past the nervous visitors. Siciliano shared the footage, which was shot on July 14, on TikTok where it has been viewed more than 11.3 million times She explained that the man's voice was that of the seaplane captain who had flown the tourists there. Siciliano added that the captain, who had guided trips in the national park hundreds of times, said he had never witnessed anything like the encounter before. Viewers praised his calmness and explained that he was following advice on bear encounters by using a monotone voice to talk to it. Siciliano said that she was walking down a path in the park with her friends when the bear suddenly appeared behind them. She said it had, in fact, turned back at the sign because it had spotted another bear, glimpsed briefly in her footage, up ahead that it had been fighting with earlier. Experts warn that humans should not run away from bear as it suggests that you are prey and they are likely to chase. By talking to the bear in a deep voice, it is encouraged to move on without attacking. The NPS advises: 'Stay calm and remember that most bears do not want to attack you; they usually just want to be left alone 'Continue to talk to the bear in low tones; this will help you stay calmer, and it won't be threatening to the bear. 'A scream or sudden movement may trigger an attack. Never imitate bear sounds or make a high-pitched squeal.' People watching the video asked several questions and had plenty of comments. Rick Ellis asked why the group stood still when the massive bear approached. Siciliano replied: 'That is exactly what we were instructed to do and be calm. That was the sea plane captain trying to keep everyone calm.' Commenting on the moment when the animal went to inspect the sign warning about bears in the area, Herman Salgado responded: 'He was checking to make sure his picture was still up.' Another person suggested: 'Remember, you don't have to outrun the bear. You just need to be able to outrun your friends.' Max Frost warned: 'Their lives were almost that scene from the Revenant.' Morgan added: 'Prey runs. Don't run. Let them know you're there and most importantly you are not afraid - also known as - not food. 'It is Alaska, they did the right thing.' The NPS said there are about 2,200 bears in the Katmai region and is one of the 'premier brown bear viewing areas in the world'. Rangers believe there are more bears than people on the peninsula. According to their website: 'As many bear populations around the world decline, Katmai provides some of the few remaining unaltered habitats for these amazing creatures. www.google.com/amp/s/www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-9865317/amp/more
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Bear news
Aug 5, 2021 19:40:23 GMT -5
via mobile
Post by tyrannosaurs on Aug 5, 2021 19:40:23 GMT -5
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Post by oldindigosilverback on Aug 5, 2021 22:59:17 GMT -5
Reply 21. That is the result of cruel treatment by the circus trainer. A big possibility.
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Post by Gorilla king on Aug 7, 2021 6:20:44 GMT -5
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Post by Gorilla king on Aug 9, 2021 9:04:12 GMT -5
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Post by tyrannosaurs on Aug 9, 2021 16:55:40 GMT -5
twistedsifter.com/videos/grizzly-bear-running-fast-down-hill-denali-alaska/The Amount of Ground this Grizzly Bear Covers in 15 Seconds is Incredible - Bill Watkins filmed this incredible sequence of a Grizzly Bear in Denali National Park, Alaska, covering some serious ground in a span of 15 seconds. According to Watkins, the bear was spooked by another grizzly on the west side of Highway Pass, causing it to run towards the park road. Some additional information Bill provided in the original YouTube description can be found below: Most of the bears that we see along or near the park road are females either with or without cubs or subadults (meaning teenagers 2 1/2 – 5 years old). Females usually kick their cubs out at 2 1/2 years old but I can think of at least two rare occasions where we had a female hold onto her cubs for 4 1/2 years before they were kicked out. We seldom see adult males along the park road, although if it is late May to early to mid July, a visitor would have a better chance (not a good chance) of seeing a male as that is grizzly bear mating season. Also, the diet of these bears is primarily vegetation which makes up about 80% of their diet. They literally switch from one plant species to another as the summer season progresses. Pea vine is an important early season food found in the river bars, but grasses, sedges, bear flower, horsetail, blue and soap berries and other plants make up this vegetation diet. For the most part, Denali bears north of the Alaska Range do not have access to salmon, consequently they are far smaller than their coastal relatives. Average weights for a Denali bear is in the 300-350+ lb range with some males possibly getting up to 500-600 lbs. The other 20% of their diet consists of anything natural that they can catch or scavenge off of including: ground squirrels (easiest things for them to catch), moose and caribou calves, etc. Since our bears do not receive any human food or garbage, they do not associate food with people and do not seek them out. Keeping human foods and garbage away from them at all times is the only way to maintain a positive human/bear relationship. The catch is, everyone must be on the same page in securing food and keeping it away from them, in any amounts whether in Denali or elsewhere. Even something as small as a granola bar can begin this food association in a grizzly and things can escalate dangerously from there. Grizzlies and many other species benefit from wolves as wolves do all the work in bringing down a large animal (successful against adult moose perhaps 5% of the time) and the bears in many cases come in and take it from them. Sometimes if there are enough wolves, they can successfully drive off a bear from a carcass but this type of interaction is rarely witnessed.
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Post by Gorilla king on Aug 15, 2021 14:20:19 GMT -5
‘Mind blowing’: Grizzly bear DNA maps onto Indigenous language families
The bears and Indigenous humans of coastal British Columbia have more in common than meets the eye. The two have lived side by side for millennia in this densely forested region on the west coast of Canada. But it’s the DNA that really stands out: A new analysis has found that the grizzlies here form three distinct genetic groups, and these groups align closely with the region’s three Indigenous language families.
It’s a “mind-blowing” finding that shows how cultural and biological diversity in the region are intertwined, says Jesse Popp, an Indigenous environmental scientist at the University of Guelph who was not involved with the work.
The research began purely as a genetics study. Grizzlies had recently begun to colonize islands along the coast of British Columbia, and scientists and Indigenous wildlife managers wanted to know why they were making this unprecedented move. Luckily, in 2011, the region’s five First Nations set up a collaborative “bear working group” to answer exactly that sort of question. Lauren Henson, a conservation scientist with the Raincoast Conservation Foundation, partnered with working group members from the Nuxalk, Haíɫzaqv, Kitasoo/Xai’xais, Gitga’at, and Wuikinuxv Nations to figure out which mainland grizzlies were most genetically similar to the island ones.
Henson used bear hair samples that researchers involved with the working group had collected over the course of 11 years. To get the samples, the team went to remote areas of British Columbia—some of them only accessible via helicopter—and piled up leaves and sticks, covering them with a concoction of dogfish oil or a fish-based slurry. It “smells really, really terrible to us, but is intriguing to bears,” Henson says.
The researchers then surrounded this tempting pile with a square of barbed wire, which harmlessly snagged tufts of fur—and the DNA it contains—when bears came to check out the smell. In all, the group collected samples from 147 bears over about 23,500 square kilometers—an area roughly the size of Vermont.
Henson and her colleagues then used microsatellite DNA markers—regions of the genome that change frequently compared with other sections—to determine how related the bears were to each other. The scientists found three distinct genetic groups of bears living in the study area, they report this month in Ecology and Society.
But they could not find any obvious physical barriers keeping them apart. The boundaries between genetic groupings didn’t correspond to the location of waterways or especially rugged or snow-covered landscapes. It’s possible, Henson says, that the bears remain genetically distinct not because they can’t travel, but because the region is so resource-rich that they haven’t needed to do so to meet their needs.
One thing did correlate with the bears’ distribution, however: Indigenous language families. “We were looking at language maps and noticed the striking visual similarity,” Henson says. When the researchers analyzed the genetic interrelatedness of bears both within and outside the area’s three language families, they found that grizzly bears living within a language family’s boundaries were much more genetically similar to one another than to bears living outside them.
The findings don’t surprise Jenn Walkus, a Wuikinuxv scientist who co-authored the study. Growing up in a remote community called Rivers Inlet, she saw firsthand that humans and bears have a lot of the same needs in terms of space, food, and other resources. It would make sense, she says, for them to settle in the same areas—ones with a steady supply of salmon, for instance. This historic interrelatedness means Canada should manage key resources with both bears and people in mind, she says. The Wuikinuxv Nation, for example, is looking into reducing its annual salmon harvest to support the bears’ needs, she notes.
Lauren Eckert, a conservation scientist at the University of Victoria who was not involved with the study, agrees that the findings could have important implications for managing the area’s bears. It’s “fascinating” and “really shocking” work, she says. The resources that shaped grizzly bear distribution in the region clearly also shaped humans, Eckert says, “which I think reinforces the idea that local knowledge and localized management are really critical.”
www.sciencemag.org/news/2021/08/mind-blowing-grizzly-bear-dna-maps-indigenous-language-families
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Post by Gorilla king on Aug 17, 2021 7:39:33 GMT -5
Fat bear champ eats so many fish he can barely walk
A success story.
The livestreamed bears of Katmai National Park and Preserve — of Fat Bear Week internet fame — devour salmon over the summer to outlast the long, harsh winter famine. Last year's Fat Bear Week champion, sizable bear 747, has already succeeded in growing impressively fat in 2021. In fact, he's so big that recent footage shows him struggling to ascend a riverbank.
Katmai's Brooks River, where the explore.org cameras broadcast live, has been flush with salmon this season. In July, bears crowded the river to feast on 4,500-calorie fish.
And bear 747 — the largest and currently most dominant bear of the river — has used his girth and influence to exploit the best fishing spots in a hyper-competitive bear world, which means lots of calories. The footage below shows 747 laboring up a commonly-used bear trail.
Bear 747 is in his salmon-eating prime. Rangers have spotted him catching and devouring 15 fish over the course of just a few hours. Last August, the live cams also captured him, flush with fish and fat stores, struggling up the riverbank.
The fat bears are a conservation success story. Alaska's Department of Fish and Game ensures bounties of fish make it up into wild watersheds like Katmai's. This keeps Katmai's lakes and rivers, which are protected from harmful exploitation and development, flourishing with life. Alaska's Bristol Bay saw its biggest run of sockeye salmon on record this year.
"This is a story about a very healthy ecosystem," Naomi Boak, the media ranger at Katmai National Park and Preserve, told Mashable in 2020. "It's about salmon that have cool enough and fresh enough water to thrive."
www.google.com/amp/s/mashable.com/article/fat-bear-747-climbing-river-bank-katmai-national-park%3famp
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Bear news
Aug 18, 2021 16:04:08 GMT -5
via mobile
Post by tyrannosaurs on Aug 18, 2021 16:04:08 GMT -5
Video: Golden Retriever Backs Down Alaskan Brown Bear: big brown bear came by on a recent night. The 11-year old dog stood at the door, barked, and wagged his tail, even as the bruin came closer and closer. The bear sniffed Pretty, picked up its paw as though it might take a swipe at the dog, and then retreated back into the dark. The incident took place at 11:30 p.m. on August 15 in Sitka, Alaska, a small coastal town on Baranof Island in the southeastern part of the state. The dog’s owner Nicholas Galanin recorded a video of the tense encounter with a camera positioned near the door and posted it on Facebook. “We have lots of bears, though I’ve never seen them engage this closely,” he told Snopes. In the original Facebook post, Galanin wrote that he was considering “changing Pretty’s name to Legend! He’s always been a good bear dog.” The brown bear in the video is known as an Alaskan coastal brown bear, which is a distinct species from the grizzly bear, though the two species are often referred to interchangeably. Coastal brown bears are larger than black bears and can weigh as much as 1,500 pounds. They also have distinctive shoulder humps and long, straight claws. Brown bears tend to avoid encounters with people, though they are known to kill domestic animals on rare occasions. www.fieldandstream.com/adventures/golden-retriever-fends-off-alaskan-brown-bear/
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Bear news
Aug 24, 2021 7:01:47 GMT -5
via mobile
Post by tyrannosaurs on Aug 24, 2021 7:01:47 GMT -5
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Post by Gorilla king on Aug 24, 2021 8:06:54 GMT -5
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Post by oldindigosilverback on Aug 24, 2021 8:56:27 GMT -5
That is one rare guy.Paddington came from the spectacled bear just as my blue ice bear came from the polar bear. The only difference: my fictional blue ice bear is more powerful than all real bears and fictional characters (in other universes) while Paddington is weaker than all real bears .
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Post by Gorilla king on Aug 25, 2021 7:44:16 GMT -5
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