June - Sept 21, 2011Hope is missing. When we saw only Lily and Faith last evening, it didn’t seem right, but it wasn’t the first time one of the trio was out of sight. However, our concern made us check them this morning. We found Lily and Faith but no sign of Hope. Someone saw a lone yearling at a distance, but we can think of 4 other yearlings it could be. The local bear registration station has not registered a bear since before Saturday, according to the DNR.
June's brave female cub - Sept 21, 2011We’re trying not to think of the huge loss this would be to all of us and to science. We’ve jumped to conclusions before and been wrong. Earlier this year, we couldn’t get Cookie’s and Colleen’s telemetry signals from the ground or from an airplane and thought the worst until they showed up.
We’re on edge and want the relief of knowing Hope is okay. You’re all feeling the same, we’re sure. We’re putting out feelers for more information.
Nothing else seems very important right now except that all indications are the other bears are okay (assuming Donna is okay).
June's shy male cub - Sept 21, 2011Cookie had a close call this evening as it was getting dark. With berries shriveled and ant brood disappearing along with hornet brood, Cookie discovered a domestic bee hive and tried to get to it through a fence. The landowner was about to shoot her when he spotted ribbons. He gave us a call. We called Glenn and Nancy and they headed for his house. Repairs were made to the fence and we’re loaning him an electric fence to solve the problem. We thank him for holding his fire and being open to an alternative solution.
Today, June and her cubs were resting in a wetland she used this same time of year back in 2007. Lily was one of the cubs with her back then and was licking up fallen aspen leaves. We have since occasionally found aspen leaves in fall scats.
Thank you for all you do.
—Lynn Rogers and Sue Mansfield, Biologists, Wildlife Research Institute and North American Bear Center