Today was a scramble to get the International Bear Conference presentation ready while the 5 bears with GPS units streamed data showing they were safe and sound and moving. Of course, we wondered what they all were doing on this hot day but some days it has to be mainly desk work. Two other members of the research team, Glenn and Nancy, reported that they finally got 11-year-old Donna radio-collared and GPSed and that her 3 cubs are almost certainly 2 males and a female.
In 53 litters in this clan of 24-year-old Shadow, there were 60 males, 55 females, 13 unknown sex, and an average of 2.4 cubs per litter, which was the same average litter size as we found in the old study of 52 litters from mothers that fed only on wild food and not at garbage dumps.
Many of the bears that are residents of the study area have not been seen yet. Today, beautiful Crackle was seen with his cinnamon coat. The photo of him showed him to be at the same stage of shedding as golden Honey. Both have dark heads with new fur and cinnamon bodies with old sun-bleached fur. Crackle has some new big bloody bite marks on his head left over from mating season that will help identify him in dark fur or cinnamon.
A Lily fan asked about Honey having cubs and what we would do. We very much doubt she will have cubs. She is too grouchy toward Lucky, but who knows what goes on in the woods in a moment of reconciliation. What would we do if she had cubs? We’re wondering, too. Cubs normally stay with their mother for 16-17 months, and it would be unnatural to force the family to stay together after that. We’d have to make a decision what to do, depending upon what the DNR would let us do (release or not or send to another good facility or keep). If Honey starts having cubs, we might get her or Lucky fixed, depending upon what the options might be for any cubs. We can’t overfill the enclosure. All are decisions for the future. Right now, we need a refuge pen in case she has cubs and wants solitude for a period, and we need a pen to put her into, according to USDA rules, if workers have to work in the enclosure. All governed by USDA and DNR. Meanwhile, Ted and Honey are enjoying the most freedom of their lives, and Lucky is growing and getting into the testosterone years. Living in the most natural bear enclosure we know, they are showing the public a little of how bears live.
We have much to be thankful for.
We thank you for your participation in Team Bear’s drawing to fund Honey’s refuge pen. Details about the 15 prizes and how to participate are at http://www.facebook.com/topic.php?uid=263755115498&topic=20986.
Thank you for your orders of the 3-DVD set of the full-length BBC version of “The Bear Family & Me” at http://www.bear.org/website/gift-shop.html?page=shop.product_details&flypage=flypage_images.tpl&product_id=841&category_id=8
Thank you for showing the benefits the radio-collared bears bring to the region. Your voting for Soudan Underground Mine State Park has the park solidly in first place with more votes than the next 9 parks put together. Coca-Cola straightened out the vote glitch and you now have totaled over 160,000 votes. To vote, go to http://www.livepositively.com/#/americasparks/leaderboard and vote over and over.
Thank you to Betsy Evans and the Blanket Team for an exquisitely beautiful blanket they made as a long labor of love. We’ll include pictures as soon as we get it on display in the North American Bear Center. There is more to tell about this story.
Thank you for all you do!
—Lynn Rogers and Sue Mansfield, Biologists, Wildlife Research Institute and North American Bear Center