Lily and Hope - The Black Bear and Cub

Oh dear that is such sad news, poor little Jason, I thought he and Faith were doing so well and they looked so fit and healthy on all the clips.

I hope the autopsy will help them discover why he died so other cubs can be helped.

What a tough decision they had to make not to interfere.

RIP little Jason

Lai

That really is upsetting news. Poor Jason I really thought from the Video clips that they were both fit, and strong. It seems like the idea that there was'nt enough milk to go round is sound theory to me, but we'll have to wait for the post mortem report to really find out. It such a difficult decision these people have to make, I would hate to have to make a decision like that. They can only do what they think is right at the time, and within the rules. So we have to stand by them, because we know how much they love the Bears, and how much they are doing for them
RIP little Jason
WS

That was a real shock. I came on to read all the updates but my eye caught that one first. How sad that was to read and what a tough decision for lynn and the team, it must have been awful for them. Poor little Jason, it must have been horrible for him.
I will catch up with all the clips another time, it's too sad at the moment.

Sleep peacefully little fellow
RIP Jason

littlewid-x-

I wonder if Lily still hasnt gotten being a mother down yet. As soon as I read that straight away I thought of what Hope had gone through. It is very sad indeed. I wonder what the autopsy will reveal.

RIP Jason

SM

Hi everyone, sorry I'm not about much at the minute. Work, wedding etc.

The DNR confiscated Jason's body. Spiteful springs to mind. That poor poor little cub.

Sadness and gladness

Sadness reigned today as we did interview after interview about Jason, remembering how it was to see him losing ground and knowing there was nothing we could realistically do about it. As hard as it was, we were thankful that we could be with Jason at the end and hopefully learn why. Usually cubs just disappear. Our methods now allow us to learn why. Sadness reigned among Lily fans as you expressed your condolences to us or posted them at http://rainbowsbridge.com/residents/JASON002/Resident.htm. We appreciate your support. Some of you expressed your grief through anger toward us or Lily. We understand.

Our big push now is learning why this happened. Many of you, including teachers with students, echoed that. We began the autopsy process this morning by collecting Jason’s internal organs and placing them in formalin for microscopic examination by laboratories.

Unfortunately, the autopsy process was interrupted by the DNR confiscating Jason’s body. They allowed us to keep the internal organs. We asked why they were confiscating this body when no other body has been confiscated in our 42 years of bear research in Minnesota. In the past, whenever a bear died, we notified the DNR, asked for a salvage permit, quickly proceeded with an autopsy before tissues degenerated, and got the salvage permit in the mail. Never a problem. Why the sudden change? Reporters asked the DNR that question and got a non-answer that appeared in the Duluth News Tribune http://www.duluthnewstribune.com/event/article/id/196395/group/Sports/ saying that we didn’t have a salvage permit and the DNR would do their own necropsy. Without internal organs? Unlikely. They called it standard operating procedure. We know better.

We assume we will get Jason’s body back at some point, but there is nothing we can do about the delay. All we can do is hope that when we do get the body back it will be in good enough shape for the completion of our autopsy and for educational use.

Today, we put a GPS unit on Lily. We thought it would give us peace of mind knowing where she is. It didn’t. We watched on our computers at the field station as she moved a half mile in less than 90 minutes, and we worried. Could she move that fast with tiny Faith (picture right)? Faith has come a long way in becoming mobile since the days around the den, so we are hopeful. However, where Lily was at 8:50 PM, three wolves were seen this morning. We’ve seen how quickly Faith can climb trees, so, again, we are hopeful. But this all keeps us on the edge of our seats.

The gladness today came from a visit to 3-year-old Jo and getting to see her cub (see picture above)! We also put a GPS unit on Jo, but, unlike Lily, Jo is staying put. The most interesting thing about sweet Jo is that she has a single cub like Lily did last year. Does that mean she will abandon it like Lily did Hope? We’re betting against it. Jo’s cub is large—obviously an outstanding suckler. We’re betting it will stimulate enough prolactin to prevent ovulation. We hope we learn the sex of Jo’s cub soon so we can stop calling it “it.” Even as a new mother, Jo was as calm and trusting as ever when we changed her radio-collar.

Yesterday Jason Sawyer, Jim Stroner, and Charlie Meyer worked hard to dismantle the den shed and den cam equipment. They scoured the area to ‘leave no trace’ of our research activities there. We are thankful for their hard work and thankful to the property owners for giving us access to the den site. Here are a few pictures of the work in progress.

You’re keeping us solidly in 6th place in the Readers Digest contest to win money for Ely. The link to vote 10 times in a row each day is http://wehearyouamerica.readersdigest.com/town.jsp?town=ELY&state=MN.

More video of yesterday's visit with Lily and family is posted at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bVHzIGeZJAM.

Thank you for all you do.

—Lynn Rogers and Sue Mansfield, Biologists, Wildlife Research Institute and North American Bear Center

http://www.bearstudy.org/website/research/daily-updates/1248-sadness-and-gladness-.html

Thanks for the update Anne-Marie.

Lai

Video updates:

12th April

20th April

22nd April

26th April

8th May

10th May

14th May

Thanks SM - I will have to look at all these tonight.

Lai

Time for another video catch up:

27th May




29th May






31st May

3rd June





18th June

4th July

Thans SM Hope & Faith are really growing up now, its lovely to see them play. Just a shame Jason was'nt there with them
WS

Whilst the Den cam is down for the season you can watch the Viewing Area webcam live video where you can see Ted, Lucky and Honey.

Nobody around at the moment

Lai

So many videos to catch up on, thanks a lot SM, will have to save them for an evening viewing and catch up on the whole lot.

Nice to know there is still a cam we can watch Lai now the den cams down......hard to believe it will soon be September again and the cam will be up ( I hope) and the bears will be hibernating......plus it will be that dreaded time of the year

littlewid-x-

ATTENTION LILY FANS: The Soudan Underground Mine State Park needs our support in the Coca-Cola America's Favorite State Park Contest to win up to $100,000. The park is partly the home of our own Jo Bear and cub and Juliet's yearlings Sharon and Shirley. There is NO LIMIT on how many times you can vote! Limited to legal residents of the 50 U.S. including the District of Columbia. Voting ends @11:59 pm EDT on 9/6/11.

http://m.livepositively.com/park_details.jsp?parkId=556

You can vote as many times as you like. They are currently in second place so need lots of votes.

Lai

Thanks for that Lai, I will start voting daily. They need all the help they can get!

SM

I think i've got this wrong SM - reading it again, it's only for USA residents bother

Lai