16th August 2010

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BABY BEAR FREED FROM JAR

A black bear cub is safe and happy, and foraging again, after his head was freed from a plastic bottle.

The bear, nicknamed Jarhead, and his mother and two siblings frequently raided trash bins in Weirsdale, a small town in Florida’s Ocala National Forest, says CNN. In one such raid, Jarhead got his head stuck in a plastic jar. He couldn’t eat or drink for 10 days, and was wasting away when biologists caught up to him.

Following tips from concerned townspeople, the scientists tracked the bear family and laid baited traps. The mother avoided the traps for over a week. Finally, the hunters caught up to the pack, tranquilized mama, scooped up Jarhead and, “after a brief tussle … uncorked the cub.”

Jarhead rested overnight with his groggy mom before his family was moved to a less populated part of the forest.

Tags bearsbaby animalsmishaps

27th July 2009

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Smart bear thwarts food tubs

The BearVault 500, a “super rugged transparent polycarbonate” jug designed to keep campers’ food away from bears has been breached.

“In one corner of the Adirondacks, campers started to notice that the BearVault … was being compromised,” writes the New York Times. “First through circumstantial evidence, then from witness reports, it became clear that in most cases, the conqueror was a relatively tiny, extremely shy middle-aged black bear named Yellow-Yellow.”

Yellow-Yellow is a mere 125 pounds, and her name honors the two yellow ear tags that wildlife officials placed on her, but her size and cooperation with authorities belie her crafty ways.

She deciphered BearVault’s locking system (see graphic above) and in so doing “she has emerged as a near-mythical creature in the High Peaks region of the northeastern Adirondacks.”

Says Jamie Hogan, the BearVault company owner: “She’s quite talented.”

Tags bearsfeedingthwartingYellow-Yellow

10th June 2009

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Loose bear afeared of cattle

A black bear has caused a stir in Castalia, Iowa, where it was spotted roaming Monday.

Black bears aren’t usually found in Iowa, notes the AP, but the 200-ish pound beast may have wandered into the state from Minnesota or Missouri.

It was last seen traveling south toward Clemont by Todd Waterman of Castalia (he took the picture at right). “It was hauling butt going south,” Waterman told reporters.

As Waterman watched, a herd of cattle approach the bear, scaring it into a tree where it remained until nightfall. It hasn’t been seen since.

Tags bearscowsencounters

25th May 2009

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Bear-feeding Alaskan faces jail time

A 70-year-old Alaskan man named Charlie Vandegraw is being prosecuted for his unique relationship with bears.

Vandergraw has been feeding and interacting with bears outside his remote cabin (above) for 20 years, and was recently featured in the Animal Planet TV series “Stranger Among Bears.” In the show, he can be seen scratching the belly of a black bear, resting his head on another and feeding dog kibble to a cub out of his palm.

Now, the state has slapped the retired teacher and wrestling coach with 20 counts of feeding bears, and he faces a year in prison or a $10,000 fine. The Alaska Department of Fish and Game claims that Vandergraw’s behavior sets a dangerous example for other would-be bear friends, and that the bears around his cabin have lost their fear of humans and pose a threat to others in the area.

Vandergraw wasn’t available for comment, but some of his friends are outraged. Other locals think he’s just lucky not to be “Treadwelled” – a term used by those unsympathetic to the fate of “Grizzly Man” Timothy Treadwell, who was eaten with his girlfriend in Katmai National Park in 2003.

So far, Vandergraw has only been lightly battered by his bear friends. According to receipts uncovered by wardens, he fed them thousands of pounds of dog food and hundreds of pounds of cookies.

Tags The Lawbearsfeeding

15th May 2009

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Oprah makes Brutus a star

Today on Oprah Winfrey’s show about “Amazing Animal Friendships,” Brutus the grizzly bear (remember him?) and owner Casey Anderson joined the TV queen via satellite feed to chat while Brutus enjoyed a plate of his favorite blueberry pancakes (r.).

Also featured on the episode was an adorable South African hippo kept as a pet by a family, and an elephant who is best friends with a small dog.

In terms of walking the line between cute and crazy, however, this quote from Anderson is pretty hard to beat: “We’re going to be old dudes together, and it’s really wonderful that I get the opportunity to spend the rest of my life with my best friend.”

Tags bearscelebsBrutusfeeding

5th May 2009

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This bear uses an inside voice

Meet Brutus, an 800-pound grizzly bear raised since birth by naturalist Casey Anderson.

Anderson is married to actress Missi Pyle, whose credits include Harold and Kumar Escape from Guantanamo Bay. The bear was the best man at their wedding, reports the Daily Mail.

Anderson is the subject of a recent documentary, Expedition Grizzly, for which he lived for a year among bears in Yellowstone National Park. His friendship with Brutus, however, began seven years ago when the cub was orphaned on a reserve that was already overpopulated.

Anderson whisked the cub away to Bozeman, Montana, where he built the Montana Grizzly Encounter, so that Brutus could grow up as a bear should.  

Brutus loves to swim in the pool and lick his faithful owners. The Daily Mail has an unbelievable collection of Brutus photographs - including one of him eating Thanksgiving dinner with Anderson’s family that mustbe Photoshopped but National Geographic vouches is real. Anderson tells National Geographic that if the human interactions ever get to be too much for Brutus, the bear’s feelings will be respected.

Expedition Grizzly re-airs Saturday, May 9, at 9 p.m.

Tags bearspets

12th April 2009

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This polar bear did some chomping

The newswires are furocious this morning with the story of a 32-year-old German woman who jumped into the polar bear enclosure at the Berlin Zoo. She was briefly mauled by one of the four bears in the exhibit, who left serious bite marks on her arms and legs, before zoo keepers dragged the woman out of the exhibit’s moat.

It’s not yet known why the woman launched herself into this den of danger. According to the London Telegraph, she had to climb over a fence, a wall and some prickly hedges to get in. A guy who did the same thing last December told zoo keepers he had been feeling “lonely.” (In that case, the bears were diverted with chunks of beef.)

For the rescue, zoo keepers threw life-saver rings into the exhibit moat to both distract the bears and hoist the woman out of harm’s way. Rescuers had made one unsuccessful attempt to lift her to safety when she fell back into the moat and the mauling occurred. Video footage from CNN is embedded below, and available here.

Knut, the adorable German polar bear cub who became a celebrity as an infant in 2007, was in the enclosure at the time, but was not the bear who did the chomping.

Update: The woman, identified only as Mandy K, was depressed over the loss of her teaching job, says her ex-boyfriend. Also, zoo security has revealed that at the time of Mandy’s rescue they were “moments” away from shooting the animals.

Tags polar bearsbearsBerlin Zooattacks