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Post by warsaw on Jun 15, 2013 11:11:50 GMT -9
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Post by warsaw on Oct 17, 2013 9:11:05 GMT -9
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Post by warsaw on Feb 12, 2014 11:56:22 GMT -9
The 22-year-old grizzly with a 15-year history of eluding traps and outsmarting everyone was killed at the Department of Fish, Wildlife and Parks laboratory in Bozeman on April 18. David Nelson, wildlife biologist and district supervisor for USDA-Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS) Wildlife Services, suspects the Falls Creek bears cattle-killing career started as early as 1984. And Wildlife Services trappers agree the bear humbled them in many ways. It was July 1988 after Madel responded to a kill in the Green Creek area when he confirmed what he suspected, a signature problem bear. A snare was set, but the day after the kill, Madel only found a black bear caught in the trap. And I found big grizzly bear tracks, like he had walked all around this black bear, Madel said. He was a classic contradiction: a bear that kept himself tucked inside national forests, avoiding human contact, yet having an appetite for beef. Read more: billingsgazette.com/news/local/euthanized-grizzly-was-legendary-cow-killer/article_c10786eb-a6b6-5f9d-8d4b-1ee6bc9e9211.html#ixzz2t8xH2Syh
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Post by warsaw on Apr 5, 2014 5:16:03 GMT -9
This bear has learned how to open vehicle doors using the handle, just like any person would. Luckily he hasn't caused any damage. But that's not always the case. Bears can cause extensive damage
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Post by warsaw on Apr 15, 2014 8:47:44 GMT -9
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Post by sarus on Sept 2, 2014 16:51:56 GMT -9
¨www.youtube.com/watch?v=eifPWBhH5og"Yogi isn't the only smarter-than-average bear"_______________________________________________________________________ Grizzly bears use tools? WSU study under wayAugust 19, 2014By Linda Weiford, WSU News PULLMAN, Wash. – In a first-ever study, researchers at Washington State University are examining whether grizzly bears make and use tools. And while it’s too soon to reach a broad scientific conclusion, at least one female bear is demonstrating that, yes, she definitely can. Information gleaned from the study can be used to help wildlife managers better solve grizzly-related challenges and problems, according to researchers, and also assist zookeepers in keeping captive bears mentally and physically stimulated. The study, being conducted at WSU’s Bear Research Education and Conservation Center, is documenting eight grizzlies faced with the challenge of getting their claws into a dangling food snack that’s too high to reach. No training is involved. The researchers are chronicling innate learning behavior. “While it’s generally accepted that grizzly bears are intelligent creatures, until now no scientific research had been conducted on their problem-solving skills,” said WSU veterinary biologist Lynne Nelson, who is overseeing the study. In WSU’s controlled setting, eight brown bears—three males and five females—are being tested separately and are at various phases of the experiment, said Nelson. To date, a 9-year-old grizzly named Kio has sailed through each phase, essentially nailing the hypothesis that the species is capable of tool use. Here’s how the study works: Inside the grizzly bears’ play area, a donut is hung on a string from a wire, too high for the animals to reach. First, each bear is tested to see if it will stand on a sawed-off tree stump to reach up and get the donut down. Once this is mastered, researchers move the stump away from the hanging donut and place it on its side. Here’s where things get challenging. The bear must move the stump until it is positioned underneath the donut and then flip the stump over into a makeshift footstool. All of which Kio mastered early on: “She manipulates an inanimate object in several steps to help her achieve a goal, which in this case is to obtain food,” said Nelson. “This fits the definition of tool use.” The other grizzlies are in the process of figuring out the feat, she explained, which confirms what the center’s scientists have long suspected about the keen brain power of bears. Frequently, Nelson and her colleagues witness grizzlies doing remarkable things, including using a single claw in a key-like manner to try to open locks. Why should humans scientifically assess tool use among America’s greatest predators? “If grizzly bears are capable of using tools to interact with their environment, that’s important for us to know because it provides a fuller picture of how they think,” said WSU veterinary student Alex Waroff, who designed the study and who, with Nelson, tests the bears five mornings a week. “By better understanding their cognitive abilities, we can help reduce encounters that can turn deadly for bears and humans alike,” he said. Such understanding also could shed light on whether the species is capable of manipulating its environment when faced with changes in the wild, such as shifts in habitat conditions or declining food sources, he explained. As Nelson points out, most of the center’s grizzly bears were deemed “problem bears” in the wild and were brought to WSU as an alternative to being shot and killed. “Grizzlies are smart foragers and they’ll work hard to get at food – which, as we’re seeing, can include some pretty sophisticated strategies,” she said. The glazed donuts, donated by a local grocery store, are used to entice the bears for the study and aren’t part of their normal diet, said Nelson. “Yes, they like sweets – just like humans,” she said. “But we’re careful to restrict their intake.” The study is expected to be completed this fall. ________________________________________________________________________________________ ________________________________________________________________________________________ ► news.wsu.edu/2014/08/19/grizzly-bears-use-tools-wsu-study-under-way/#.VAZwFPl7Jvk________________________________________________________________________________________ ________________________________________________________________________________________ .
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Post by warsaw on Dec 13, 2014 12:57:14 GMT -9
Archive for July, 2014 What do bears do for fun? Maybe this! July 14, 2014 One of our favorite hikes on Admiralty Island includes crossing an abandoned logging bridge. We have done it probably hundreds of times. When you think “bridge” do not picture the Golden Gate or Brooklyn Bridge. Rather it is a bridge constructed totally out of wood … some rough-cut, some treated, some logs … with no regard to the remote chance there would ever be pedestrians on it. It is a purely functional bridge to get massive log trucks over the creek with their load of trees. We have taken many a nap on this bridge just because it is smoother than the road, less rocks. We eat our snacks on this bridge, we even scattered some of Bill’s mother’s ashes off this bridge – and where I intend to go when it is my time. We have set-up the game camera at various points overlooking this bridge since bears seem to like to take the easy way to travel if available, just like us. Along this bridge is a long ago started deeply imprinted bear trail, proof of the repetitiveness of their travels. That is why we set up a camera at this point. We caught a bear I have nicknamed Peanut Butter, probably a younger bear weighing around 800 pounds. Over time, we have caught pictures of him tearing one of the 12″12″ side beams off of the bridge, not all at one time, but gradually. Who knows what is going through his mind, but I like to think he is just having fun, like adolescents will, by tearing something up. At first, there were just claw marks up and down the support. Then there was bite marks, with bits of the beam being pulled off. Sometimes, he left a little of his fur behind, from rubbing on it. One time when we came back, he had pulled a piece off and the time lapse on the camera showed him tossing and playing with the piece of wood. Another time, we came back and the beam was nearly pushed off the bridge – and then it happened, he tore, pushed this huge beam off the bridge and into the creek below There is no logical reason for him to do that, other than just “having fun,” There are pictures of him rolling around in the pieces, so contorted that it is hard to recognize that he is a bear. The one piece of word that remained on top was kicked around on later days. I have included a lot of these pictures in this post, but the game camera did not always take the sharpest shots, but I think you will get “the picture.” alaskamyway.wordpress.com/2014/07/
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Post by warsaw on Jan 7, 2015 12:55:47 GMT -9
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Post by warsaw on Jun 21, 2015 10:48:57 GMT -9
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Post by warsaw on Dec 20, 2015 9:44:11 GMT -9
BEAR ATTACKS (Copyright © 2001 by Steven P. French, M.D.) The following is the text for the 43rd chapter in the Fourth Edition of Wilderness Medicine, edited by Paul S. Auerbach, published by Mosby in 2001. INTRODUCTION Bears are one of the most widely distributed animals in the world. At least one of the eight bear species currently exists in Asia, Europe, North and South America, and the Arctic (Table 43-1). Bears in Africa became extinct several million years ago. Australia and Antarctica are the only continents where bears have never existed. The koala bear of Australia is a marsupial and not a true bear. Bears also occupy a wide variety of habitats, including tropical forests, polar ice sheets, swamps, barren ground tundra, bamboo jungles, alpine meadows, and coniferous and deciduous forests. Their range extends from sea level up to about 6100m (20,000 feet). Bears are carnivores. Although some bear species practice specialized feeding in response to their habitat, all bears are also omnivores and retain the ability to feed on a variety of food types, including vegetation, insects, and meat. Modern bears have larger brains than their extinct ancestors (22,30), and the relative brain size for bears is larger than that of other carnivores (14). This greater brain size probably resulted from a need to increase sensory and perceptual capacities for locating an omnivore food base with both seasonal and annual variations in distribution and abundance (5,8,25). The larger brain size reflected the increased intelligence required by bears to develop a complex foraging strategy. Increased intelligence also allowed them to develop individual behavior, shaped by both experience and memory. Thus they posses a wide variety of behaviors and have been described as playful, lazy, doleful, entertaining, intelligent, caring, powerful, aggressive, terrifying, and vicious (33). The image of bears as “man-eaters” ignites our fear of them. Human injury and deaths from natural phenomena, especially wild animal attacks, are sensationalized. Bear attacks are rare, but the psychological impact of widespread media coverage inflates their frequency and significance (6,24). Every bear attack is traditionally referred to as a mauling, regardless of the extent of injuries. This term contributes to the emotional response regarding such attacks and leads to “bearanoia” in many people who visit bear country. This fear of bears may affect how people use wilderness areas with bear populations and how they view the conservation of bears and their habitat. Better understanding of bears and their behavior helps reduce bear attacks, assists physicians in treating bear attack victims, and promotes conservation of bears. www.riskmanagementconsulting.ca/resources/download-resources/doc_download/26-bear-attack-article.html
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Post by warsaw on Feb 8, 2016 5:46:13 GMT -9
Black Bear Summer Skiing in Whistler, BC
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Post by sarus on Apr 19, 2017 19:58:55 GMT -9
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Post by sarus on Jan 31, 2020 1:42:59 GMT -9
www.youtube.com/watch?v=s70iO7jWsMQThe Intelligence of Raccoons And Sun Bears | Real Wild "Living in tropical forests in South Asia, they have jet-black fur, and love to eat insects, bees and honey! ... At the Free the Bear Sanctuary, Cambodia, the sun bears are put through a series of test to measure their intelligence. Pumpkin, a raccoon, lives in a house with her two canine best friends, Oreo and Toffee. The raccoon has even taught herself how to use the toilet." .
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Post by sarus on Feb 2, 2020 9:54:25 GMT -9
¨www.youtube.com/watch?v=NvakqgtJjx8Watch Animals Try to Solve This Puzzle Box | ScienceTake
The evolution of intelligence in mammalian carnivores Kay E. Holekamp and Sarah Benson-Amram "We evaluated puzzle box success in 146 individuals from 39 species in nine families of mammalian carnivores. Of the 146 individuals tested, 48 individuals (32.8%) from 23 species succeeded at opening the puzzle box. The proportion of individuals within each species that succeeded at opening the box varied among families, with species in the bear family (Ursidae, 69.2% of trials), the raccoon family (Procyonidae, 53.8% of trials) and the weasel family (Mustelidae, 47% of trials) being most successful at opening the puzzle box, and those within the mongoose family (Herpestidae, 0%) being the least successful."
► royalsocietypublishing.org/doi/full/10.1098/rsfs.2016.0108#RSFS20160108C149
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Post by sarus on Feb 2, 2020 10:01:55 GMT -9
¨www.youtube.com/watch?v=NvakqgtJjx8Watch Animals Try to Solve This Puzzle Box | ScienceTake
The evolution of intelligence in mammalian carnivores Kay E. Holekamp and Sarah Benson-Amram "We evaluated puzzle box success in 146 individuals from 39 species in nine families of mammalian carnivores. Of the 146 individuals tested, 48 individuals (32.8%) from 23 species succeeded at opening the puzzle box. The proportion of individuals within each species that succeeded at opening the box varied among families, with species in the bear family (Ursidae, 69.2% of trials), the raccoon family (Procyonidae, 53.8% of trials) and the weasel family (Mustelidae, 47% of trials) being most successful at opening the puzzle box, and those within the mongoose family (Herpestidae, 0%) being the least successful."
► royalsocietypublishing.org/doi/full/10.1098/rsfs.2016.0108#RSFS20160108C149
www.youtube.com/watch?v=VgyaSsCa09sBrain Size Predicts Problem-Solving Ability in Mammalian Carnivores Brain size predicts problem-solving ability in mammalian carnivores
Sarah Benson-Amram, Ben Dantzer, Gregory Stricker, Eli M. Swanson, and Kay E. Holekamp
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