Webbkamera Björnide

The webcam at Orsa Björnpark is up and running! I have been watching diligently for the bear to move into the frame for a decent picture. Lo and behold, here she is. At least...I think it is a she. Last year the hibernating bear had bearlets.

Bob and Brun are ecstatic. Well...not so much Bob, but Brun thinks it's the best thing since peanuts and a warm bed.

Orsa Grönklitt Björnpark

The hibernating bearcam is on its way! w00t!

How does one recycle bears, anyhow?

Uh-oh. Busted.

Bear cubs trapped in bear-proof Dumpster
Cubs were found after agitated mother was seen patrolling Dumpsters

A pair of black bear cubs got more than they bargained for when they went digging for food inside a dumpster at a Nevada campground.

The Dumpster's bear-proof lid, which someone had left open, closed on the cubs after they climbed inside.

The cubs were discovered after their agitated mother and a third cub were seen patrolling various dumpsters on the site and calls were made to scientists at the Wildlife Conservation Society and Nevada Division of Wildlife.

Previous studies by the agencies showed that black bears with access to human leftovers will readily become "couch potatoes" that neglect foraging for their natural foods, which include grasses, berries and pine nuts. To avoid potential conflicts between human and bears, legislation was passed that required human trash be deposited in bear-resistant containers.

"Obviously, when the lids are left open, the dumpsters won't keep the bears out," said Jon Beckmann of WCS. The Zephyr Cove Campground in Lake Tahoe, Nevada, where the cubs were discovered, will be cited for having other dumpsters on site that were not bear-proofed.

The entire bear family was tranquilized and released together in a mountain region near the campsite. Scientists fitted the mother bear with a radio collar so they could track her movements.

Bears bears bears bears bears...

Oh boy! From Kate via e-mail this morning! More bears! Yay!!!

I soooooo wish this was my back yard.

*hic*

Another drunk bear story. There is video of the staggering on the linked page for your amusement. Brun assures me that this behavior is mostly found in the Black Bear variety or very tiny, Brown Bears who hang around Ieper.

"This is going to hurt like hell in the morning."

Drunk Bear Wonders Through Colorado Neighborhood

(CBS) LYONS, Colo. Cops usually won't bear someone acting drunk and disorderly. But they had to in Colorado Tuesday.

A wobbly bear wondered into a neighborhood in Lyons, Colo. near Boulder.

Officers with the Colorado Division of Wildlife say the bear was probably drunk from eating fermented apples. They say this is the time of year the bears eat constantly to store fat for their winter hibernation.

The bear was near an elementary school as the students were arriving for class, so they were rushed into the school gym and kept there as a precaution.

Officers used a beanbag gun to stun the bear and then tranquilized her. She will be tagged and returned to the wild after she has slept it off.

Paddington Bear

Killer teddy bear behind deaths of 2,500 fish
Stuffed animal was dropped into trout pool, clogged the flow of oxygen

MILFORD, N.H. - A teddy bear has been implicated in 2,500 deaths. Of trout, that is. State officials say a teddy bear dropped into a pool at a Fish and Game Department hatchery earlier this month clogged a drain. The clog blocked the flow of oxygen to the pool and suffocated the fish.

Hatcheries supervisor Robert Fawcett said the bear — a Paddington Bear dressed in yellow raincoat and hat — is believed to be the first stuffed bear to cause fatalities at the facility.

"We've had pipes get clogged, but it's usually with more naturally occurring things like a frog or even a dead muskrat," he said. "This one turned out to be a teddy bear, and we don't know how it got there."

The deaths prompted Fawcett to release a written warning: "RELEASE OF ANY TEDDY BEARS into the fish hatchery water IS NOT PERMITTED."

He said it's not known who dropped the bear, but urged anyone whose bear ends up in a hatchery pool to find a worker to remove it. "They might save your teddy bear, and keep it from becoming a killer," he said.

"It's kind of a cute little teddy bear and people wouldn't think that a cute little teddy bear would be able to kill fish."

When will people finally admit that it is entirely unwise to phuck with bears? Even those that like marmalade?

There is a tale in the Langman folklore library of Paddington's run-in with the plumbing. I wish people would take this issue more seriously.

"No one ever said they would bite..."

After all, it is just a phucking BEAR!

Man bites panda in Beijing zoo as retribution Drunken
migrant worker jumped in cage, was bitten after petting bear


BEIJING - A drunken Chinese migrant worker jumped into a panda enclosure at the Beijing Zoo, was bitten by the bear and retaliated by chomping down on the animal’s back, state media said Wednesday.

Zhang Xinyan, from the central province of Henan, drank four jugs of beer at a restaurant near the zoo before visiting Gu Gu the panda on Tuesday, the Beijing Morning Post said.

“He felt a sudden urge to touch the panda with his hand,” and jumped into the enclosure, the newspaper said.

The panda, who was asleep, was startled and bit Zhang, 35, on the right leg, it said. Zhang got angry and kicked the panda, who then bit his other leg. A tussle ensued, the paper said.

“I bit the fellow in the back,” Zhang was quoted as saying in the newspaper. “Its skin was quite thick.”

Other tourists yelled for a zookeeper, who got the panda under control by spraying it with water, reports said. Zhang was hospitalized.

Newspaper photographs showed Zhang lying on a hospital bed with blood-soaked bandages and a seam of stitches running down his leg.

‘No one ever said they would bite’

The Beijing Youth Daily quoted Zhang as saying that he had seen pandas on television and “they seemed to get along well with people.”

“No one ever said they would bite people,” Zhang said. “I just wanted to touch it. I was so dizzy from the beer. I don’t remember much.”

Ye Mingxia, a spokeswoman for the Beijing Zoo, confirmed the incident happened but would not give any details. She said Gu Gu was “healthy.”

“We’re not considering punishing him now,” Ye said in a telephone interview. “He’s suffered quite a bit of shock.”

Disconsolate

I have been decommissioned for battle by my doctor. This means no work, no stress, no upset. It has been a long few months and my wittew body is worn out. As there are few doctors who specialize in Rigellian health, all the medical community on Earth can do is prescribe rest in hopes that I will regain my former strength and fortitude. Consequentially, I am bored.

I have been trying, diligently, for the past two days (since said rehabilitative course has been imposed) to avoid anything remotely upsetting. I am, for the most part, immune to any atrocities reported on the news, as I eat, breathe and sleep all things news worthy. I figure watching MSNBC and reading news on t3h intarweb is not going to be detrimental to my health. I phucked up. Royally.

It is no secret that I have an unusually strong fixation with bears of all kind. I prefer the brown ilk but if offered any bear for a pet, I would happily take it. I was drawn to an article on MSNBC and am now thinking it may be time to gobble an ativan.

Panda inconsolable after crushing cub
China's Ya Ya wails and looks for new-born twin she accidentally killed

BEIJING - Staff at a zoo in southwest China are in mourning after a sleep-deprived panda dropped her two-day-old baby and crushed it to death, local media reported on Friday.

“It was very sudden, but also unavoidable,” Guo Wei, panda department chief at Chongqing city zoo in the southwestern region of Chongqing, told the Chongqing Business News daily.

Ya Ya, a seven-year-old panda and new mother of twins, "appeared tired” when nursing the younger cub in a patch of grass, the paper said.

I am not sure if it is my bear obsession or natural female response to this story which is causing so much grief for me. Poor panda mommy. I hope she is not chastised by the Scientology nutters for experiencing extreme post-partum depression.

Bob Bear!!!!

See what happens when we go to work without a babysitter? The bears go boffo. I think Bob has A LOT of explaining to do.

A bear’s dream: Pizza, liquor and a convertible

Bear Redux

Finally grabbed a picture of the bear and baby. One, two, three...awww.

Björnen

I found the coolest website a few months ago. It's a bear park in Grönklitt, Sweden. There is a web camera fixed inside of one of the bear's lairs. Here are a few pictures I saved from earlier in the winter.

The other day, I clicked on the camera to see what the bear was up to. Lo and behold...there was not one bear...not two bears...but three bears! The bear had babies!!! Two adorable, fuzzy "bearlets." I haven't saved any pictures of the bearlets yet as the resolution isn't the greatest and they look blobby. I highly encourage the curious to keep a watch on the web cam, though. It is beyond neat.