Jezebel: Polar Bears

Polar Bear Cub Keeps Getting Underfoot

Margaret Hartmann — Thu, 24 Mar 2011 15:20:00 EDT

[Germany, March 23: One of two polar bear cubs plays next to its mother Vera in their enclosure at the Nuremberg Zoo. The twins were born on Dec. 2, 2010. Image via AP.]

Polar Bear Shows Off For His New Friend

Margaret Hartmann — Fri, 12 Nov 2010 13:31:00 EST

[Scotland, November 12: 23-month-old Walker, the new polar bear at Highland Wildlife Park, has a swim before meeting 30-year-old Mercedes. The bears were both released today into their new four-acre home. Image via Getty.]

PETA Scientists Claim Knut Is Psychologically Disturbed

Margaret Hartmann — Fri, 18 Jun 2010 12:40:00 EDT

Knut the polar bear is "definitely displaying behavioral problems," according to PETA scientists who point to Knut's swaying back and forth, imitating picture-taking tourists, and having "panic attacks." A Berlin Zoo rep say this is "ridiculous." [AFP via Newser] More »

TGIF

Anna Holmes — Fri, 04 Jun 2010 16:50:00 EDT

[Omaha, June 4. Image via AP]

Adorable Polar Bear Shows Adorable Cub How To Ice-Skate

Margaret Hartmann — Mon, 10 May 2010 13:40:00 EDT

A polar bear cub was spotted playing in newly-formed ice in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge in Alaska, jumping in and out of the water. Later, his mom showed him how to slide on their makeshift ice rink. [Daily Mail] More »

All Grown Up

Katy Kelleher — Wed, 24 Mar 2010 09:20:00 EDT

Remember when Knut was a tiny, adorable ball of white fur? Now everyone's favorite cub is a man - or a 300-pound sex machine. "He's going to be our new stud bull," said the Berlin Zoo director. [TheSun] More »

Sometimes You Feel Like A Knut

Anna Holmes — Wed, 07 Jan 2009 16:10:00 EST

[Berlin, Germany; January 7. Images via Getty]

Sunday Night: Time To Chill

Hortense Smith — Sun, 07 Dec 2008 17:45:00 EST

Knut The Polar Bear Falls Victim to Child Star Syndrome

Margaret Hartmann — Thu, 04 Dec 2008 13:20:00 EST

Two years ago the adorable polar bear cub Knut was an international star, photographed by Annie Leibovitz and featured on the cover of Vanity Fair with Leonardo DiCaprio. Today Good Morning America took a look at where the former child star is now, and found that the adult Knut weighs in at 500 lbs, is surly, disheveled, and just looking to find a mate. Which is why the Berlin Zoo is trying to sell him. Clip above. More »

Let's Talk About Sex

Maria — Wed, 03 Dec 2008 13:40:00 EST

Last week we noted that Japanese zookeepers at the Kushiro city zoo had trouble getting two polar bears to mate because they discovered that one of the female bears had been misidentified as a male. Why is it so hard to classify the gender of a polar bear? In short, because polar bears are very furry, especially "down there". However, one way to tell the gender of a polar bear is to see how it pees: if the urine looks like it is coming out of the belly, it is male; from the tail, it is female. However, most bears squat to pee, so even the pee test isn't a reliable way to classify the cuties. [Slate] More »

Bear Necessities

Margaret Hartmann — Wed, 26 Nov 2008 11:20:00 EST

Japanese zookeepers have discovered why their attempts to mate the two polar bears at the Kushiro city zoo have failed: Both are female. When Tsuyoshi, a supposedly male 4-year-old polar bear was introduced to Kurumi, the zoo's 11-year-old female, "he" failed to make any advances. "One day we realized that the two bears urinate in the same way, and we thought, is that how males do it?" said zookeeper Masako Inoue. The sex of polar bears is often difficult to determine because of their long hair. Despite the zoo's breeding plan, it will keep Tsuyoshi, who has become immensely popular with zoo visitors. [CNN, Reuters] More »

Conventional Crap: The Sun Is Already Setting On The RNC

Megan Carpentier — Mon, 01 Sep 2008 10:00:00 EDT

The Republican National Convention hasn't even officially started and already it's being scaled back due to Republicans not wanting to look like insensitive assholes (again) when a hurricane hits the Gulf Coast. In the absence of hangovers, parties or Madonna concerts to discuss this week, Kay Steiger of Campus Progress (still Conventionally blogging at Pushback and RH Reality Check) and I discuss hurricanes, Sarah Palin, polar bears, drilling for oil, Carly Fiorina, how we won't be voting with our vaginas and the most desperate need of our time — that Kevin Costner never star in another science fiction movie. More »

Orphaned Baby Polar Bear "Talks" To His Zookeeper

Tracie Egan Morrissey — Fri, 06 Jun 2008 11:00:00 EDT

Animal Planet ran a special on a baby polar bear named Inukshuk, who was orphaned at just 10 weeks old when his mother was shot by hunters in Ontario. He was rescued by a police officer and sent to a zoo in Toronto, where he was raised by zookeepers until he was old enough to be placed in his permanent home in a habitat in another Canadian zoo, where he currently lives with two other orphaned polar bears. In the clip above, Inukshuk bonds with his zookeeper, who is torn about becoming too attached to the baby bear because he will eventually leave her. Having never been around any polar bears since he was an infant, he has begun to take on some human attributes…like talking! When his caretaker is feeding him treats, it really sounds like he's saying "Give me another! And another!" After the jump, check out the adorable photos of when Inukshuk spent the night in the police station with the officer who rescued him. Confused and upset, he cried until the policeman sat and cuddled with him until he fell asleep. More »

The Nuremberg polar bear cub not eaten by...

Jennifer — Tue, 22 Jan 2008 14:30:00 EST

The Nuremberg polar bear cub not eaten by its mother has been, at last, given a name (and a home!) by the Nuremberg Zoo. The adorable female bear will be known as Snowflake. (Or, Flocke, which is "snowball" in Deutsche.) Welcome to the world (albeit in captivity), little one. [Der Spiegel] More »

The Germans, not doing much to combat any...

Jennifer — Mon, 07 Jan 2008 12:40:00 EST

The Germans, not doing much to combat any lingering stereotypes that they have the right to play God with the lives of innocents, have decided to let a still-unknown number of newborn polar bear cubs die, rather than hand-rear them and put the country through "Knutomania" all over again. The cubs were born in Nuremberg (oh, the irony) to two mothers (dubbed Wilma and Vera) who show little interest in rearing them. Update: Vera just ate one of her cubs. Hope you're happy now, Germans. [Das Spiegel; Reuters] More »