Hope was collared for a few moments of celebration before she took it off. After all, it is the 13th. But it went better than before. Maybe she was hungrier this time. There is hope. The picture shows Hope in a white pine just before she dropped the collar to the ground.
June stopped by another clear-cut today in her travels. As she left it, Sue intercepted her for her last dose of Amoxicillin.
At this moment, with baiting underway, the bears are safe.
As we put the radio-collar on Hope today, and as we scanned June for BB’s the other day, we thought how much of the research is thanks to Lily fans. Getting the collar on Hope, however temporarily, was thanks to the nuts you sent. Scanning June and giving her medicine was thanks to your nuts and the scanner you held a fundraiser to buy (and thanks to the person who stepped forward to buy it). Changing batteries in the GPS units is thanks to the batteries you sent and (again) the nuts you sent. Heart rates are thanks to stethoscopes you sent. Pictures for updates are partly from a camera made possible by your donations to WRI. Your trail cams have enabled us to capture valuable information in the past. Quick meals when we get in from the field are thanks to the microwave you sent. Papers we write for publication are helped by Lily fans who have given expert advice and/or helped with literature searches.
We frequently thank you in our hearts.
And today, came another memorable moment. The Lilypad Picnic committee gathered here from faraway places, partly thanks to transportation help from you, to show us once again your generosity as an expression of how much you care about the bears, education, and all. They surprised us with a check for $10,000 from the Lilypad Picnic events and silent auction and your additional donations. That, together with recent donations to the thermometer, reduce the North American Bear Center debt to $36,240! We don’t know what to say other than thank you.
At the same time, forces are coming together to further change attitudes toward bears in classrooms and among millions worldwide. More about that later. Lily fans are at the heart of all of it.
In the voting for Soudan Underground Mine State Park at http://m.livepositively.com/park_details.jsp?parkId=556 , you are approaching 1.7 million votes, which is more votes than last year. Way to go.
Thank you for all you do.
—Lynn Rogers and Sue Mansfield, Biologists, Wildlife Research Institute and North American Bear Center