Polar Bear: Spy on The Ice used hi-tech “spy cams” to get as close as possible to the bears during summer in the Arctic islands of Svalbard.

But while they were built to withstand temperatures as low as -40C, in the end most could not cope with the curiosity displayed by their subjects.

Read more here

Forrest Hammond, a biologist with the Vermont Fish & Wildlife Department, came upon a strange scene after he was contacted by Ascutney Fire Department Chief Darrin Spaulding early Sunday afternoon.

What Hammond found was a black bear with his head stuck inside an old steel milk can, about 100 yards off the road on Route 106.

The 53-year-old Hammond, a longtime bear biologist who lives in Hartland, arrived at the scene at about 12:30 p.m., with state police, firemen and a crowd of about 20 people looking on.

Fortunately for the bear — a young male that weighed about 120 pounds — Hammond had a kit in his truck with three vials of Telazol, a tranquilizer, left over from a bobcat capture last winter.

Read the full story here and see picture

As a carnivorous animal, you wouldn’t expect a polar bear to get excited over fruit and vegetables.
They’re usually more concerned with capturing seals than ensuring they receive their five-a-day.
However these inhabitants of Tokyo’s Ueno Zoo were determined to get to the fruit and vegetables on offer – even if they were enclosed in blocks of ice.

Full story here

Polar bear Willy having some fun.

This exhibit has been renovated.

For the first time in 40 years, North American black bears (Ursus americanus) are again on exhibit at Cleveland Metroparks Zoo. Two female bears recently arrived at the Zoo from the Henry Doorly Zoo in Omaha and are adapting well to their new home.

The pair of young adult black bears, weighing 172 and 193 pounds each, can be found in the Zoo’s Northern Trek, which features one of the most diverse bear collections in North America.

North American black bears, which became the Zoo’s first species of bear back in 1894, inhabited Ohio in the early 1800s until unregulated hunting and deforestation eliminated them from our area. In recent years, black bears have been spotted occasionally in Ohio but remain an endangered species in the state. The bears are moving slowly into the area from Pennsylvania, with 106 sightings reported to the Ohio Division of Wildlife in 2006.

In 1894, the Zoo’s first black bears went on exhibit at Wade Park, which was the Zoo’s original site, and were the last species to move to the current site on Wildlife Way in 1914. The return of black bears in 2007 is only appropriate given the Zoo’s yearlong celebration of its 125th anniversary. Other species on display at the Zoo include the polar, Malayan sun, Sri Lankan sloth, spectacled and grizzly bear.