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Title: Hybrid bear shot dead in Canada
Source:
BBC News
URL Source: http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/science/nature/4766217.stm
Published: May 13, 2006
Author: BBC
Post Date: 2006-05-13 17:06:21 by robin
Keywords: None
Views: 620
Comments: 6
Canadian wildlife officials say it is the offspring of a male grizzly bear and a female polar bear. There have long been stories of oddly coloured bears living in regions where the two territories overlap. But until now, grizzly-polar hybrids, dubbed "grolar bears" or "pizzlies", have been found only in zoos. The hybrid bear was shot last month by an American big game hunter on Banks Island, Northwest Territories, Canada. His guide, Roger Kuptana, noticed the creature had the long claws and slightly humped back of a grizzly bear and thought it might be a hybrid. The body was seized by officials, who sent a DNA sample for tests which confirmed its unusual origins. "It's something we've all known was theoretically possible because their habitats overlap a little bit and their breeding seasons overlap a little bit," said Ian Stirling, a biologist at the Canadian Wildlife Service in Edmonton. "It's the first time it's known to have happened in the wild." Nanulak bear Polar and grizzly bears have been bred together in zoos, but in the wild they rarely cross paths. However, some grizzly bears have been seen venturing across the ice towards polar bear territory to search for food after emerging from hibernation. This might explain how the rare union occurred. "In the limited area where the two species' ranges overlap, it is not entirely surprising that we might find a polar-grizzly hybrid," said David Field, Zoological Director of the Zoological Society of London. "However, there are behavioural differences between the species, including timing of mating seasons, that make such hybrids highly unusual and it is unlikely that any resultant offspring would be viable." Canadian wildlife officials are now thinking up a name for the creature. Some of the suggestions they have come up with so far are "pizzly", "grolar bear" or "nanulak", after the Inuit names for polar bear (nanuk) and grizzly bear (aklak). Poster Comment:
A white bear with brown patches shot dead in northern Canada is the first grizzly-polar hybrid found in the wild, DNA tests have confirmed. 
There are behavioural differences between the species, including timing of mating seasons, that make hybrids highly unusual 
He just looks white with red splotches to me. :(
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#1. To: robin (#0)
"Pizzly bear"???? Sounds like a urinary aid for pre-teen girls.... :P
"Those who make peaceful change impossible will make violent revolution inevitable." ----John F. Kennedy
these are much better choices
Guard against the impostures of pretended patriotism. – George Washington "If the president made us go to war with Iraq, why doesn't he go over there and fight the war?" Christian May [6th grader] cool. with the loss of the ice pack, polars are going to have to do something, or go someplace. I fear they are going to really hit the wall soon.
"That's libertarians for you - anarchists who want police protection from their slaves." Kim Stanley Robinson, "Green Mars" p318
Kinda like opening the gates to a big zoo. You could be right.
Guard against the impostures of pretended patriotism. – George Washington "If the president made us go to war with Iraq, why doesn't he go over there and fight the war?" Christian May [6th grader] it sucks big time. The far north is changing enormously. The boreal forests are disappearing, the ice and permafrost is leaving. The entire godd*amned thing is in ecosystem collapse.
"That's libertarians for you - anarchists who want police protection from their slaves." Kim Stanley Robinson, "Green Mars" p318
This will get Stephen Colbert's blood boiling. He has a thing about bears.
"We shall have world government whether or not you like it - by conquest or consent." - International financier and CFR member James Warburg Feb. 7, 1950
suggestions they have come up with so far are "pizzly"
#2. To: Peetie Wheatstraw (#1)
"grolar bear" or "nanulak", after the Inuit names for polar bear (nanuk) and grizzly bear (aklak).
#3. To: robin (#0)
#4. To: peteatomic (#3)
with the loss of the ice pack, polars are going to have to do something, or go someplace. I fear they are going to really hit the wall soon.
#5. To: robin (#4)
#6. To: robin (#0)
Hybrid bear shot dead in Canada
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