Category: Polar Bears

I know I’ve said I love polar bears.  I do.  I don’t like the way most people treat them in captivity.  I think they should be free.  However, just because I think they should be free doesn’t mean I think they should multiply at alarming speeds, threatening human population.  It’s something that can’t be helped though when they’re considered endangered and no one is allowed to protect themselves when attacked.  The animal pictured above is dangerous in real life.

See article.  Polar bears obviously aren’t endangered if they’ve incresed by 42% in a decade.  Unfortunately, they’re now roaming inhabited areas of the arctic…areas where people aren’t allowed to shoot them (Russia).  Police however, will shoot them. Four polar bears have been shot so far this year when usually only one or two are killed in a whole year.  But, you have to protect human life over an increasing bear population.

Environmentalists thing that global warming is depriving them of their hunting territory and causing them to starve or drown on their hunt for food.  But some say this is nonsense for many reasons, one of which is that they’re excellent swimmers and they actually appear to benefit from shorter ice seasons. Another thing…their populations are very healthy!  Unfortunately this means that there will be battles of the fittest scenarios. Excess of young males foraging afield for food. Young polar bears (2-5 years) survive at lower rates because they are still learning hunting. They starve to death the more there are. But this also means that the possibility of hungry polar bears crossing paths with humans are more and more likely.  Many of these young males will have to be shot in self-defense.

So as much as everyone loves polar bears, including me, we have to look at the realities of their growing population and take precautions and put safeguards into place to protect human life. It really doesn’t have anything to do with global warming but with the ban that has been in place for so long on hunting them.  I don’t want to think of what it might be like in the northern territories if they increase 42% more in the next decade.  Yikes!

Ty

Have you seen this?  Does this polar bear not look completely depressed?  If he could end it, he would.  You know I love polar bears and this kind of thing breaks my heart. Continue reading ‘World’s Saddest’ Polar Bear

So first off, who is Flocke the polar bear, my site’s namesake?  Well she’s an adorable polar bear that I followed quite a while back in my younger days.  Who am I kidding, it was only a little over half a decade ago.  But I was younger.  Anyway, Flocke was a huge hit over in Europe, particularly Germany.  I came across Flocke for the first time on youtube.  Cutest thing I had ever seen.

Zookeepers and public thought there was a possibility she’d get eaten by her mother Vera so they raised her themselves which was very much against policy.  Apparently though, another mother polar bear had just eaten both her cubs so there was a huge public outcry about Flocke’s safety when her mother was displaying weird behavior with her.  Flocke is German for “flake” or “snowflake”, obviously because of her white fur.  Flocke became quite the celebrity and made a ton of money in branding and merchandising.  She was so adorable that they actually made a board game after her.  I kid you not.  I for one, enjoyed see all her firsts and all the cute stuff baby polar bears do as reported by the constant media attention she received.  However, soon she was the hot topic among animal conservationists and some legal stuff came into play about damaging effects that the public exposure would give her.

Continue reading Who is Flocke?