polar bear

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Knut Will Stay in Berlin
 Knut Will Stay in Berlin 
Jul 8, 2009 4:14 PM CDT

Knut Will Stay in Berlin

(Newser) - The Berlin Zoo’s prized polar bear, Knut, isn’t going anywhere, Der Spiegel reports. Officials there will pay $600,000 to a rival zoo to settle an ownership dispute. Given Knut's bankability as a bona fide world star, it's a bargain. The bear, not yet 3 years old, is...

US Won't Use Polar Bear to Battle Emissions

Law barring connection between carbon and habitat stands

(Newser) - The Obama administration will not use the plight of polar bears and their melting habitat to regulate greenhouse gases, the Anchorage Daily News reports. Interior Secretary Ken Salazar announced today that a Bush-era law barring government scientists from considering emissions as they attempt to save the endangered species will stand....

Polar Bear Chomps German Zoo Visitor

She survives with serious injuries after entering enclosure

(Newser) - A woman survived a polar bear attack in a Berlin Zoo enclosure when keepers pulled her to safety after knocking the animal away, the Daily Telegraph reports. One of four bears in the enclosure attacked the woman in a moat after she entered—a feat that required jumping a fence,...

Polar Bears' Other Threat: $35K Trophy Hunts

Foreign hunters spend thousands to catch dying Artic species

(Newser) - Polar bears, whose Arctic habitat is thawing out, have become the symbols of climate change, but they’re also prime targets for hunters in Canada, where trophy-hungry sportsmen cough up as much as $35,000 to bag a bear, the Independent reports. “This is probably the toughest hunt you...

Warming Is Polar Bears' Top Killer, Host Nations Agree

US, Russia, Norway, Denmark and Canada sign joint statement on bear population

(Newser) - Five nations whose land is home to polar bears signed a joint statement today declaring global warming to be the biggest threat to the animals, AFP reports. Canada, Denmark/Greenland, Norway, Russia, and the US agree that “long-term conservation of polar bears depends upon successful mitigation of climate change,”...

Flocke Gets Russian Comrade
 Flocke Gets Russian Comrade 
Jan 7, 2009 11:07 AM CST

Flocke Gets Russian Comrade

(Newser) - Celebrity polar bear Flocke has a new companion, the AP reports. The Nuremberg Zoo's resident superstar was a little tense upon meeting the unnamed 1-year-old Russian polar bear, but the two soon teamed up for some joyous romping. The new bear arrived from Moscow in late December and will remain...

Knut Needed Hug: Zoo Intruder

Unidentified man scales wall to get closer to polar bear in Berlin

(Newser) - A German man says he climbed over a Berlin Zoo barrier today because the polar bear needed a hug, Bloomberg reports. The unidentified man, 37, apparently believed the animal—which drew 3.2 million visitors last year—was lonely. “He wanted to keep Knut company,” police said. Knut,...

Berlin May Lose Knut to Rival
 Berlin May Lose Knut to Rival 
Dec 3, 2008 11:50 AM CST

Berlin May Lose Knut to Rival

Polar bear under contract with different German zoo

(Newser) - The world's favorite polar bear may be bidding auf wiedersehen to the Berlin Zoo. Cuddly tourist attraction Knut actually belongs to the north German zoo his father came from, and a move is expected in the first half of 2009. "We entered into a contract which stated that the...

Aha! Zoo Bears Won't Mate Because Both Are Female

Japan park figures out why polar bears don't have much chemistry

(Newser) - A Japanese zoo is learning it might want to check the plumbing more closely the next time it acquires a polar bear cub, CNN reports. Tsuyoshi was brought to the Kushiro Zoo to breed with 11-year-old Kurumi. But when the cub reached reproductive age, he turned out to be she,...

Hunting Canada's Polar Bears Breeds Heated Argument

Scientists, locals clash over quotas in Canada's frozen north

(Newser) - One man’s endangered species is another’s livelihood in the Arctic north, where polar bear hunting is this season’s hot-button issue, the Economist reports. Scientists set a sustainable annual quota to protect dwindling species near the Canada-Greenland border, but some Inuit locals—who distrust outsiders and use the...

Zoo Rescues Bear Trapped in Moat

'Things were hanging on for a little bit too long' for Milwaukee Zoo star Zero

(Newser) - Fed-up zookeepers took drastic action today to rescue Zero the polar bear from the moat he’s been trapped in since Oct. 13, the Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel reports. Milwaukee County Zoo officials used tranquilizer darts to subdue the 1,100-pound beast, then had a crane lift him to safety. “Things...

Zoo Tries to Lure Stranded Polar Bear Out of Moat

Zero has been stuck in Milwaukee park's moat for 2 weeks

(Newser) - Staff members at the Milwaukee County Zoo are taking new action to rescue a polar bear named Zero who has been stuck in the moat that surrounds his habitat for 2 weeks, the Journal Sentinel reports. Using a crane, handlers lowered a big plastic crate filled with Zero’s favorite...

Warmest Year Ever Threatens Arctic Wildlife

Greenland ice shelf loses 24 cubic miles to melting

(Newser) - The Arctic had its warmest year on record in 2007, and a new government report underscores the unsettling consequences for ice sheets and wildlife, ABC News reports. The report reiterates many of the familiar scenarios of late about the region—sea ice is vanishing at a record pace and permafrost...

Heart Attack Killed Knut-Keeper
 Heart Attack Killed Knut-Keeper 
Sep 23, 2008 1:34 PM CDT

Heart Attack Killed Knut-Keeper

Autopsy rules out foul play

(Newser) - Berlin prosecutors said an autopsy today showed that Thomas Doerflein, the zookeeper who gained fame for hand-rearing the polar bear cub Knut, died of a heart attack. The city's mayor paid tribute to him for writing Berlin history. "Other causes of death, in particular involvement by another party, are...

On Climate Change, Palin Bucks Science ... and McCain

VP pick has denied warming is man-made, focused on adapting, not reversing

(Newser) - Sarah Palin disagrees with both John McCain and scientific consensus on the causes of global warming, acknowledging that while Alaska has warmed by 4 degrees during the past 50 years, she’s not among those who “attribute it to being man-made.” McCain, meanwhile, has made a signature issue...

Knut's Surrogate Dad Dead at 44

Police doubt foul play in death of Dörflein, long ill

(Newser) - Thomas Dörflein, the Berlin zookeeper who raised polar bear Knut after his mother rejected him, was found dead in his apartment today, Der Spiegel reports. He was 44. Authorities said there was no evidence of foul play; Dörflein had been very sick. The keeper’s contact with Knut...

Zoo's Polar Bears Go Green
 Zoo's Polar Bears Go Green 
Sep 8, 2008 6:38 AM CDT

Zoo's Polar Bears Go Green

Bear pond algae stains fur

(Newser) - Polar bears at a Japanese zoo are turning green, AP reports. Visitors to Higashiyama Zoo and Botanical Gardens in Nagoya are stunned by big green patches on the bears' fur, caused by algae. The algae was picked up by swimming in the bear pond and is now growing deep within...

Polar Bears May Have Yet Another Worry: Sharks

Bone is found in the stomach of a Greenland shark

(Newser) - As if polar bears in the North Pole didn't have enough to worry about these days: Scientists have found the bone of a young bear in the stomach of a Greenland shark, Reuters reports. The unprecedented discovery prompts a "million dollar question," says one researcher: Do the bears...

Federal Changes Threaten Endangered Species: Critics

Feds can dodge review under rule changes

(Newser) - Critics are raising an alarm over planned White House changes to the Endangered Species Act, reports the Oregonian. The modifications would give federal agencies such as the US Forest Service more leeway to decide whether activities such as logging would harm endangered species—and such determinations would no longer be...

Polar Bear Shot After 200-Mile Swim

It was the first to arrive in Iceland for 15 years

(Newser) - Police in Iceland shot dead a polar bear that swam more than 200 miles to reach the island nation, the Guardian reports. The bear, thought to be the first to reach Iceland since 1993, probably came from Greenland or a floating chunk of Arctic ice. Authorities said they had to...

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