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Lily_et_al_-_20110219_123048Hope surprised us once again. She spent 29 minutes playing with a cub today in full view—the female this time! We’re so used to Hope playing with the male that it took a careful review of the footage to convince us that she was indeed playing with her sister. It was delightful to see them bonding so thoroughly. We’ve seen so much more of the male cub up to now that it was nice to get a good long look at the female. She may be a tad smaller that her brother, but she looks healthy. Again, Hope resisted when Lily reached for the cub, and she performed the same odd ‘armpit’ cleaning on the female that she had done on the male. What’s up with that? Video footage of today’s play session is available at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xc5UioHbYts.

Lily_Hope_and_cub_-_20110219_122928

Some viewers think they are seeing eyes open. We haven’t been able to confirm that, and it’s a bit early as well. We did see the same blinking-type eye movements Hope did last year just before her eyes opened. It won’t be long. Within a week we’ll no longer be speculating.

Team Bear reported that 2213 fans submitted cub names in the Name the Cubs Contest. They compiled the Short List of the 3 most popular male names and the 3 most popular female names. Lynn and I approved the list as presented. No substitutions. Next, one of the 2213 fans will be drawn and given the task of choosing from the Short List. Monday night the chosen names will be announced!

As I was writing this update, I was distracted by activity in Lily’s den. Both Lily and Hope are alert to something outside the den. At one point Lily’s nose lengthened and she blew slightly. The snow pack softened during those warm days and has refrozen with a thick crust. Many animals are now able to move around readily on top of the snow. Lily’s den is secure so we don’t worry about their safety.

Thank you for all you do.

—Sue Mansfield, Biologist, Wildlife Research Institute, North American Bear Center


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