Polar Bears - Nearly Irish As Obama.

In Europe the brown bear was common. We lost our bears around 3000 years ago but there are still descendents living in Europe today as well as in the North Pole. Genetic scientists from trinity college Dublin have through sampling bones from different parts of Europe found that the Irish bear is a direct ancestor of the polar bear. It all happened around 120,000 years when humans were a new species still living in Africa. This was a very warm period in history with hippos living in the river Rhine Germany and themes in London the sea levels were 4-6 meters higher than today. During these times the polar bears may have migrated to Ireland to find food as the Polar Regions had melted, fallen for the charms of an Irish bear and their off spring made their return to the pole during the next ice age.

Polar bears are thought to have evolved brown bears which may have drifted away on an ice sheet and had to 200,000 years ago. Probably the lighter coloured bears had a higher rate of survival so over years the brown bear bred and the brown became lighter and the colour till they became that off white we know today. Occasionally a polar bear will give birth to a partially brown bear a reminder of its ancestral past.

Bear Facts

Bear facts

I revisited Oregon in the good old US of A this autumn, miles and miles of forest lakes and rivers a real haven for the outdoors type artist or photographer. Many an hour was spent trekking through forests coming across the odd deer owl or bird of prey other than that wild life was hard to spot. I was hoping not to bump into or stumble across a black bear but to encounter one as they are very active at this time of year. The abundance of ripe fruit and with the impending winter bears are more visible near human dwellings. It is not un-common to find bears in your garden an night steeling fallen fruit from your orchard. This is an important time of year to as the high calorie diet of fruit and berries gets stored as fat in the body to fuel the body during hibernation.

What I did see was loads and loads of bear crap full of partially digested fruit which smelled quite nice actually, sweet with a hint of alcohol not at all like poo. I believe it is possible to eat as a last resort if you are stuck in the woods and need to survive,  I’m sure Bear Grills has tried it, though would imagine it would be full of tape worms bad bacteria and poisonous fungi. One might be better off looking for some fruit and berries instead, if they are in the poo they are on the trees in the bushes.

During hibernation bears can slow down their metabolism to a quarter of its normal rate. They may wake twice daily to re-adjust themselves or stand up and stretch. Amazingly it is not unknown for females to give birth to cubs and nurse them while in a state of hibernation only to wake up in spring to the pitter patter of tiny paws. It is hoped if we can isolate and use the process in which bears hibernate we can use  it  to help in treatment of certain illnesses, in the future use the technology for long distance space flight or perhaps to help guys who go to the cinema with their partners to a chick flick ( possibilities are endless).

Bears have a large brain with excellent long term memory; great navigation skills can see in colour can hear twice as much as us and have a sense of smell 100 times greater than ours can run at 30 mph. Though they have a reputation of killing humans when too close to their cubs this is not true deaths attributed to black bears can be blamed on the grizzly bear. Even still out door shops sell bear mace as a precaution against possible attacks.

Here is an interesting snippet from the American association of bears.

Should you encounter a black bear?

• Stay calm - DO NOT RUN (running may elicit a chase response by the bear).
• Pick up children so they don't run or scream; restrain dog; avoid eye contact and talk in soothing voice.
• If the bear stands up, he is NOT going to attack but is curious and wants a better sniff or view.
• Back away slowly; if bear chomps jaw, lunges, or slaps ground or brush with paw, he feels threatened.
• Slowly retreat from area or make wide detour around bear; don't crowd or block bear's escape route.

Note: Bear attacks on humans are extremely rare. A person is 180 times more likely to be killed by a bee and 160,000 times more likely to die in a car accident. Most injuries from black bears occur when people try to feed, pet, or crowd them. Bears will nip or cuff bad-mannered humans, as they will bad-mannered bears.  They are very strong and powerful animals; bears should always be treated with caution and respect. 

Information prepared by Andrea Hess 
Volunteer for THE AMERICAN BEAR ASSOCIATION