Post by warsaw on Sept 1, 2012 11:49:52 GMT -9
Three-legged grizzly bear hops back to Alaskan national park
Read more: www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2142949/Three-legged-grizzly-bear-hops-Alaskan-national-park.html#ixzz25FlmZxsM
A three-legged grizzly bear who was first spotted at a national park in Alaska last summer has been seen hopping around again.
Wildlife officials are surprised that the bear, who they have affectionately named Tripawed, managed to survive the winter at the Denali National Park and Preserve.
It is not known why Tripawed is missing his front right leg although locals believe that he may have lost it in a trap set for a wolf or a lynx.
However, park wildlife biologist Pat Owen thinks the injury isn't typical of a trap accident.
'It was a really clean cut, which leads part of me to believe it might not be a trap accident,' Owen told the Fairbanks Daily News-Miner. 'We have no idea what happened to him.'
The bear's wound seems to have healed since he was first seen last July with a fresh, bloody stump.
In the past three weeks a lot of visitors to the park have seen the curious three-legged bear, who is thought to be a young male, including one witness who said Tripawed ran across the highway and leapt over a guardrail.
Owen said that despite Tripawed’s missing limb, he is ‘very agile’ and has no trouble getting around.
'He's got a real funny gait. It's his right front leg, and he keeps it completely off the ground. He kind of hops around,' Owen said.
Last summer, locals feared that park officials would have to shoot the bear but experts assured Owen that bears can get by on three legs.
However Owen, who has only seen one three-legged bear in her 23 years working at the park, worried that Tripawed’s disability would make it tough for him to survive the winter months.
As well as defending himself against the other grizzly and black bears in the six million acre park, he needed to be strong enough to get food and be build a den to hibernate in.
But now Tripawed is back - and just in time for the park's tourist season which begins later this month.
Owen refused to keep track of the bear by tranquilizing him and fitting him with a radio collar.
'I think he's got enough trouble as it is already, without us doing that,' Owen said. 'He's pretty identifiable
Read more: www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2142949/Three-legged-grizzly-bear-hops-Alaskan-national-park.html#ixzz25FlVbSUo
Read more: www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2142949/Three-legged-grizzly-bear-hops-Alaskan-national-park.html#ixzz25FlmZxsM
A three-legged grizzly bear who was first spotted at a national park in Alaska last summer has been seen hopping around again.
Wildlife officials are surprised that the bear, who they have affectionately named Tripawed, managed to survive the winter at the Denali National Park and Preserve.
It is not known why Tripawed is missing his front right leg although locals believe that he may have lost it in a trap set for a wolf or a lynx.
However, park wildlife biologist Pat Owen thinks the injury isn't typical of a trap accident.
'It was a really clean cut, which leads part of me to believe it might not be a trap accident,' Owen told the Fairbanks Daily News-Miner. 'We have no idea what happened to him.'
The bear's wound seems to have healed since he was first seen last July with a fresh, bloody stump.
In the past three weeks a lot of visitors to the park have seen the curious three-legged bear, who is thought to be a young male, including one witness who said Tripawed ran across the highway and leapt over a guardrail.
Owen said that despite Tripawed’s missing limb, he is ‘very agile’ and has no trouble getting around.
'He's got a real funny gait. It's his right front leg, and he keeps it completely off the ground. He kind of hops around,' Owen said.
Last summer, locals feared that park officials would have to shoot the bear but experts assured Owen that bears can get by on three legs.
However Owen, who has only seen one three-legged bear in her 23 years working at the park, worried that Tripawed’s disability would make it tough for him to survive the winter months.
As well as defending himself against the other grizzly and black bears in the six million acre park, he needed to be strong enough to get food and be build a den to hibernate in.
But now Tripawed is back - and just in time for the park's tourist season which begins later this month.
Owen refused to keep track of the bear by tranquilizing him and fitting him with a radio collar.
'I think he's got enough trouble as it is already, without us doing that,' Owen said. 'He's pretty identifiable
Read more: www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2142949/Three-legged-grizzly-bear-hops-Alaskan-national-park.html#ixzz25FlVbSUo