Defenders of Wildlife Blog

by Haley McKey

Fall is finally here, and the change in season is sending Florida Black Bears a message, loud and clear:  “eat up while the getting’s good!”

There’s a great variety of nuts, fruits and seeds in the Florida countryside for bears to snack on (lots of acorns, not to mention the occasional treat of honey and larvae from beehives).  But bears instinctively look for the greatest calorie reward for the least effort, at this time of year especially.  Unfortunately, in suburban areas that often means pet food and trash.

Fortunately, there’s a great opportunity to learn how to bear-proof your property in Florida this weekend.   The Forgotten Coast Black Bear Festival is coming to Carrabelle, Florida on October 6, and will hold workshops on living with bears, along with presentations by bear experts and guided hikes with a bear biologist.  There are plenty of fun activities for kids and families too: live music, vendors and exhibits, and a Procession of the Species Parade!  Click here to learn more.  You can also see some examples of ways to bear-proof your property here.

Making sure we don’t leave items out around our homes that attract bears helps keep both bears and people safe and assures bears are foraging on their natural wild foods.  Bear-proofing is a community effort, since just one home with unsecured trash can create risk for the rest of the neighborhood.  That’s why festivals and events like the Forgotten Coast Black Bear Festival are important: they bring people together to learn about, as well as celebrate, the unique wildlife they share their state with.

Learn more about what Defenders is doing to help wildlife and people coexist.

 

*NEW COLUMN*: A weekly homage to endangered species, large and small

Today is Endangered Species Day, and that means it’s time to pay homage to all those critters large and small, charismatic and not, that keep the world turning. Over the next several weeks, we’ll be highlighting a handful of imperiled plants and animals that benefit the environment and the economy, alternating each week between familiar and oft-forgotten wildlife. Each one is a vital part of the web of life that provides clean air, clean water and a healthy environment for generations to come. And each one should give us a chance to reflect on the incredible diversity of plants and animals that we are fighting to protect.

“Teddy’s” bear

To coincide with the end of Bear Awareness Week, we’re starting with the most iconic of all animals—the teddy bear.

Ever wonder where those cute and cuddly stuffed kids toys got their name? Back in 1902, President Theodore (“Teddy”) Roosevelt was on a hunting expedition down south and refused to shoot a Louisiana black bear that others had captured and tied to a tree. A newspaper cartoonist poked fun at the President by drawing a fuzzy, stuffed bear that he called “Teddy’s bear.” The name stuck.

The Louisiana black bear (Ursus americanus luteolus) is subspecies of the American black bear that was once found throughout the bottomland hardwood forests of eastern Texas, Louisiana, Mississippi and southern Arkansas. At the time of President Roosevelt’s teddy bear incident, nearly all of them were gone and populations remained low throughout the 20^th century. By 1992 when the species was listed as threatened under the Endangered Species Act, just a few hundred survived as a result of habitat loss, poaching and vehicle collisions.

Today, Louisiana black bears are on a path to recovery thanks to increased awareness and local conservation efforts. Through the efforts of the Black Bear Conservation Committee, a coalition of local businesses, concerned citizens and wildlife agencies, bears have become a source of pride and a hot commodity. Each year, between 5,000 and 7,000 people attend the Bayou Teche Bear Festival in St. Mary Parish, Louisiana, to learn about bears, take field trips and enjoy good food and music. The festival was named the #1 “Best New Event” in 2006 by the Louisiana Association of Fairs and Festivals and has since expanded to include bird watching as well.

Other towns are getting in on the action too. Some 6,000 people attend the Great Delta Bear Affair in Rolling Hills, Mississippi to tour local wilderness areas and give their best Roosevelt impersonation.

In 2001, wildlife watching in Louisiana totaled nearly $370 million even before the influx of tourism dollars for the bear festival. It’s investments like these that make wildlife conservation a boon to local economies in addition to a vital part of the environment.

Click here to learn more about what Defenders is doing to protect America’s bears.

Celebrate Endangered Species Day!

If you’re not already partying down for ES Day, take a look at this list of events. Defenders is officially partaking in at least two of these (listed below), so drop on by if you’re in the neighborhood.

Endangered Species Day Fair in DC
Friday, May 20, 10 a.m. – 2 p.m. (Stop by the Defenders table!)
U.S. Botanic Garden
100 Maryland Avenue, SW, Washington, DC 20001
Washington, DC 20001

Live Wolverine and Movie at ZooMontana
Meet Cass, a wolverine from ZooMontana then watch PBS Nature’s feature documentary, “Chasing the Phantom.” Stay for a panel discussion with the film’s director and other wolverine experts including Defenders own David Gaillard.

Friday, May 20, 5:30 p.m.
2100 S Shiloh Road
Billings, MT
Get more details here.

Get the Bear Facts

Download our Saving America’s Bears fact sheet to learn about the threats facing bears in the United States today, what Defenders of Wildlife is doing to protect them—and what you can do to help.

Each year, Defenders celebrates some of America’s most iconic creatures during  Bear Awareness Week. And this year, we’re kicking it off with a species spotlight: grizzlies!

The slightly weathered appearance of this bear’s fur earned it the name “grizzly” back in the day.  At seven feet long and as much as 850 pounds, however, the grizzly bear is no shrinking violet. It can run as fast as 35 mph and smell food from miles away – putting those hound dogs to shame. A big muscular hump on its shoulders (which distinguishes it from a black bear) adds power for running and strength for digging. Grizzlies dig to create dens for winter hibernation, but also to find food.

Interestingly, the mighty grizzly bear also functions as the gardener in its forest and meadow home. Digging for food naturally tills the soil, which benefits the plants nearby. Undigested seeds from consumed fruit are spread freely through the bear’s waste. And salmon carcasses carried into forests decay and add important nutrients back into the soil – grizzly compost!

Grizzlies eat just about everything: grasses, seeds (esp. whitebark pine nuts), fruits, insects, fish, carrion… and even caribou. They also need to eat a lot in order to build up enough fat reserves (up to three pounds a day) to sustain them through hibernation, which lasts from five to eight months.

In case you missed it…

The New York Times must have Bear Awareness Week on its calendar! In a feature that ran yesterday called, “Where the Wild Things Are,” a piece by Ted O’Callahan focuses on a the bears of Kodiak Island. Click here to read “It’s a Bear’s World. Visitors Welcome” and learn more about the unique cousin to the grizzly.

Get the Bear Facts

Download our Saving America’s Bears fact sheet to learn about the real threats facing bears in the United States today, what Defenders of Wildlife is doing to protect them—and what you can do to help.

Think this bear’s craving a Coke?

We all know polar bears don’t drink soda, but did you know that they don’t drink anything at all? Polar bears get all the fluids they need from food instead.

This is just one of the many amazing adaptations polar bears have for living in the frozen Arctic. Others include a thick chunk of blubber (nearly 4.5 inches!) under double layered fur to help them stay warm and large paws soled with bumpy pads and long hairs between their toes that give them traction on slippery ice. And beneath that signature white coat is black skin, which absorbs heat from the sun.

Although the Arctic seems like a treacherous place to live, polar bears depend on these frozen areas for hunting and breeding. They need the sea ice to stand on as they hunt seals, and the snowy drifts to build dens for their cubs. Unfortunately, their habitat is disappearing due to climate change — threatening this animal’s very survival.

Read more cool facts about polar bears.

Learn more about how climate change is impacting polar bears with Jeff Corwin in his video series Feeling the Heat.

What Defenders Is Doing

In addition to working to reduce greenhouse gas pollution responsible for climate change, Defenders is pushing for protection of important polar bear habitat in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge. As melting sea ice makes the polar bears’ seal prey harder to find, Defenders is also working with Alaskan communities to help the hungry bears and minimize human-bear conflict. Read more about our efforts in our polar bear fact sheet and new report, Sea Bear Under Siege.

What You Can Do

Through our Wildlife Adoption Center, you can help struggling polar bears and support our work to protect them and other imperiled species.

You can also do your part to stop climate change.