After two unidentified juveniles were taken yesterday, we’ve heard no shots today and are crossing our fingers in hopes that the bears yesterday do not include valuable, treasured bears that we know and would badly miss, would be missed by others, and would be lost from research and education that can only be done with trusting bears. Today, Cindy Lopez took a super picture of Snowball fattening up for winter. She is the great, great, granddaughter of Shadow (Shadow, June, Jewel, Andrea, Snowball), showing good lineage. Shadow was the matriarch of the local bear clan and is the second oldest black bear on record. June was one of the top research bears here, alongside Lily, and is the bear in many of the videos in the North American Bear Center. Jewel, with Lily, is one of the two main den cam bears. And Andrea is starting off good having three cubs at the age of three, beating all her ancestors in that.
Thank you for all you do,
Lynn Rogers, Biologist, Wildlife Research Institute and North American Bear Center