The improved den cam image - Feb 7, 2012Jewel was her namesake when we visited her briefly to reposition the Den Cam so we all can see—including the all-important Den-Watch Team! The archive footage of our visit shows her alert but calmly looking towards the den entrance. We couldn’t actually see her when we were there, but den cam viewers were able to monitor her reaction.
Jewel's den and den cam - Feb 7, 2012Today’s visit was less eventful than last Friday’s. We’ve learned that some viewers misinterpreted some of the things that happened during that visit. Jewel did not charge us when she came out of the den. We realized she was intent on coming out, so we quickly backed away to give her space. She just came out, looked around, and hurried back in when she heard the cubs. We didn’t feed her while she was out. We just stood quietly waiting for her to go back in. It would have been nice to snap a good picture of the cubs visible in the den, but we didn’t want to lie down and block the entrance in case she wanted to go back in right away.
The trust Jewel shows is what makes all this possible. There is no way we would want to tranquilize her each time we needed to adjust the camera. There would be too much risk of killing her, so we just couldn’t learn what we're learning. These trusting bears that we can walk with are not interchangeable. We couldn’t risk their lives like that. In some research projects, bears are more interchangeable. Deaths from drugs are reported as “handling loss” and subtracted from the totals. Our study is about how bears live. Each bear has a history and a place in the clan’s social organization. It takes years to build the trust needed to get the kind of data these bears provide—similar data to what Jane Goodall recorded for the chimpanzee society she studied. Each bear has a long-term story to tell, and we want each one to live long enough to tell it.
Lily looks up from her den - Feb 7, 2012Lily and Faith have things to teach us this year too. We watched today as Lily roused and stretched and then let Faith suckle. We noticed that Faith nursed from her usual nipple—the one she claimed a year ago. A brief video of Lily and Faith is posted at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rjx1RKfMHZM.
Beyond science, the educational value of these bears is immense—and expanding. In 2008, there was 1 documentary filmed. In 2010, there were 3. This year, there will be at least 8 worldwide TV programs reaching audiences of 250 million per program. All this helps us achieve our mission of advancing the survival of bear populations worldwide through education. To keep up with the expanding interest among classrooms across North America, we will need to build a new building. Your help paying off the debt for the present Bear Center is what makes this even a remote possibility. More about that soon.
Be sure to check out the new merchandise in the NABC online Gift Shop at http://www.bear.org/website/gift-shop.html?page=shop.browse&category_id=51.
Students at Minnesota’s Andover Elementary School who are trying to get a bill passed to make the black bear Minnesota’s State Mammal were featured tonight on WCCO TV news at http://minnesota.cbslocal.com/2012/02/07/elementary-school-students-push-to-get-bear-bill-passed.
Thank you for all you do.
—Lynn Rogers and Sue Mansfield, Biologists, Wildlife Research Institute and North American Bear Center