The DNR Wildlife Veterinarian kindly sent Jason’s necropsy report. Jason died of a brain infection from a bite that made a pinpoint hole in his skull. How did it happen? Between the veterinary diagnostic report, video recorded at the den, and pictures taken after they moved from the den, the true story is unfolding, and it is not what we first thought.
Initially, DNR officials first implicated Hope in Jason’s death and we thought they might be right. We thought it possible that Jason was injured by rough play. We also thought he may have fallen behind on the 0.42 mile journey from the den to the big white pine. He had seemed slower to develop his motor skills, so we thought it likely that he fell behind and had to be carried. We wondered if Lily or Hope had carried him by the head and had bitten too hard.
When the necropsy report showed he had a swollen knee, we wondered if that could explain his slower motor skill development. We wondered when the injury to his knee had occurred. We asked the Den Watch Team to scour their notes for times when there was rough play. Lily fans also sent instances of rough play. We reviewed archived video for all those times. Yes, some of the play was rough, but we couldn’t conclusively find a point when Jason was injured.
Then we reviewed the video recorded on April 6—shortly before the 0.42 mile trip. It showed Jason to be walking fine and on a par with Faith. We know that not all cubs develop at the same rate and small differences don’t necessarily mean something is wrong.
Jason was more tired than Faith after the 0.42 mile trip, as was evident in the video and pictures we took late in the afternoon on Friday April 8. We thought he would rest up over the next day or two and be fine. When we saw him failing on the afternoon of April 11, we thought he had been too worn out to nurse. In fact, his digestive tract turned out to be empty. But that wasn’t why he was sick.
Our photos from Friday April 8 and Monday April 11 provided major information. On April 8, Jason was certainly tired after the trip to the white pine, but he had no unusual marks on his head—no blood, no pus, no matted fur, no lines suggestive of a pair of teeth raking along the side of his head. When we returned on the afternoon of April 11 and saw him failing, all those marks were present. Something had happened over the weekend. We had seen coyote tracks in the vicinity but thought nothing about it at the time.
The Lab Report described the infection, saying, “cerebellum, meningoencephalitis, ventriculitis and periventriculitis, suppurative, acute, focally extensive, with marked fibrinoid vascular necrosis.”
The necropsy report indicated a puncture wound to the skull was the likely entry point for the infection. A tiny puncture wound was found during the examination of the skull. Are Hope’s teeth small enough, or might it be a predator? If the latter, what is the likely scenario that occurred after we left the evening of April 8? We saw how tired Jason was that evening. He was too tired to climb very far. We saw Lily and Hope foraging away from the tree, depending on the tree for refuge for Faith and Jason. It is not a stretch to imagine Jason crying out for Lily and Hope, attracting a predator, and being slow to climb. We can imagine a predator grabbing Jason off the tree trunk by a hind leg, injuring his knee. His scream of pain would bring Lily and Hope on a run. We can imagine the predator biting Jason’s head about the time Lily arrived to save him.
We asked the lead veterinarian if 4 days was long enough for the infection to develop and kill Jason. He said yes.
There is no solid evidence that Hope was the culprit. We further doubt she was responsible after seeing how Faith responds to Hope. Rough play does not put Faith off. She follows Hope. She initiates play with Hope. We see how Hope looks out for Faith. We see how peacefully they nurse together as in last night’s video. Could it have been that different for Jason?
We wondered how to remember Jason. We sought counsel from the most respected grief experts in Minnesota. Their unanimous opinion was that Jason be remembered and identified in a display at the Bear Center. One of the counselors wrote, “This is an opportunity for the Bear Center to reinforce and educate about the circle of life and death. The public would be more distressed to have Jason become a non-entity than to acknowledge his brief life and death.” Another wrote that addressing his death openly and honestly is what would be expected of a research and education organization. Another wrote, “The family tree is especially important, because it says no matter when one dies, that person is still part of the family. This is a natural opportunity to help children begin to comprehend death.” Our deep thank you for expert advice at this difficult time.
On to a happier topic. Video of a touching grooming session in Lily's family has been posted to http://ww
All seems particularly well in the bear world. After foraging in small areas for a couple days, Lily moved 2.05 miles today between 9:41AM and 2:03PM. It’s almost time for another check on what she is doing. June and her 2 cubs moved only 225 yards all day today. Jo moved 0.58 miles and is well away from any towns. Juliet kept moving past Soudan last night and continued another 4.9 miles and is still on the move. Accelerated movement often comes after family break-up, so we want to take the first opportunity to see if yearlings Shirley, Sharon, and Boy Named Sue are still with her. A problem is that they are far out in a roadless area.
Along that line, June is a marvel. She is the bear most accepting of observers. She is comfortable around people where she is used to seeing them. Her territory arcs around the big campground in Bear Head Lake State Park, yet there are no reports of her entering the campground. She has spent the last few days about a quarter mile from it without coming any closer. She has had to shift her territory closer to the campground to leave room for her daughters in her old territory, yet she has never investigated the sounds and smells that are so close. Yes, we worry, but what makes human sense doesn’t always make bear sense, and she keeps her distance. Part of our study is learning how bears that no one knows are there react to human occupants in their habitat.
RC and her 3 yearlings showed up and got on the scale. RC had weighed 313.5 on September 7. After hibernation, she weighs 226.5 pounds.
The link to show support for making the black bear Minnesota’s state mammal is at http://www.thepetitionsite.com/1/BlackBear-MNState-Mammal/. Anyone, anywhere, of all ages, can sign it if you have an email address.
In the Readers Digest contest to win money for Ely, you still have Ely securely in 6th place (in the money) with only a day to go. The link to vote 10 times in a row each day through May 16 is http://wehearyouamerica.readersdigest.com/town.jsp?town=ELY&state=MN.
On Nature tonight on PBS is a program on bears with Chris Morgan. It is the second in his series of three. The last one will be next Sunday night. Chris guided viewing groups with Lynn in Katmai National Park, Alaska, and is a good guy. His program should be just as good.
Tomorrow night, Monday, WCCO-TV is airing a news piece about the research, the Bear Center, and its impact in a classroom. If their last piece is any indication, it will be good. They are using as the tease the fact that some have placed a bounty on Lily, which is one reason we need protection of these research bears that are so important to science, education, and so many people.
Thank you for all you are doing.
—Lynn Rogers and Sue Mansfield, Biologists, Wildlife Research Institute and North American Bear Center