First Ever Wild Grizzly/Polar Hybrid Shot 227
tavilach writes "Jim Martell has a license to hunt polar bears, but when his latest kill had "white fur [that] was spotted brown and it had the long claws and slightly humped back of a grizzly," officials seized the body in order to conduct DNA tests. These tests confirm that the dead bear had a polar bear mother and grizzly father, the first documented grizzly-polar hybrid in the wild. This was lucky for Jim, who was facing a fine and jail time for possibly killing a grizzly. Scientists who would have liked to study the bear are not so lucky."
Good job... (Score:4, Funny)
Re:Good job... (Score:3, Funny)
Re:Good job... (Score:3, Funny)
Re:Good job... (Score:4, Funny)
Re:Good job... (Score:2)
Re:Good job... (Score:3, Funny)
I do not know where it poops, but I imagine the hybrid bear would have lower emissions than conventional bears.
Ursus maritimus + ursus horriblis= ursus prius
Re:Good job... (Score:2)
Re:Good job... (Score:2)
I have always wondered why kodiacs are considered a subspecies since over 10 years ago it was determined the differences were environmental. If you feed a grizzly a kodiac's diet in the same environment then he is a kodiac and not a grizzly. Looks like polar bears are just another extreme of the same species - a sub species.
Re:Good job... (Score:2, Funny)
Indeed. We can assume that it was bred for its skils in magic, but was the magic divine, arcane, or perhaps even psionic?
Re:Good job... (Score:5, Funny)
oblig (Score:3, Funny)
Re:oblig (Score:2)
Re:oblig (Score:4, Funny)
Re:oblig (Score:2, Funny)
Re:Good job... (Score:3, Funny)
Could be better! (Score:2)
Yes, but if he had wanted to dodge bullets he could have learned from this [imdb.com] guy.
Re:Good job... (Score:5, Funny)
It did stop bullets.
Re:Good job... (Score:2)
We know one thing for sure, it can play dead like nobody's business.
Lovely for science... (Score:4, Funny)
Re:Lovely for science... (Score:2)
Somewhere between a grizzly and a polar bear, I imagine.
Like the old joke says... (Score:2)
The bear of DOOM (Score:2, Funny)
Thank god this guy killed it! Jail time heck, give the man a medal.
Re:The bear of DOOM (Score:2)
Re:The bear of DOOM (Score:2)
new name (Score:2, Funny)
Re:new name (Score:3, Funny)
It's called "you stand there naming it, I'm running thataway..."
Re:new name (Score:2)
Yeah but the POINT is... like ligers, do grizzlars have magical powers?
So typical! (Score:4, Funny)
Those grizzlys... always going after the blondes.
Re:So typical! (Score:5, Funny)
Pathetic that this animal was shot... (Score:5, Insightful)
And it's also legal to shoot a half-grizzly, even though shooting grizzlies is illegal?
What a waste of a magnificent (and apparently rare) animal. I'm probably one of the more pro-hunting folk around here; I grew up eating deer and gamebirds shot by my father, and have a bunch of respect for people who know how to turn a shotgun shell or rifle bullet into dinner. But these wealthy big-game trophy hunters, who look for rare and wondrous animals only to shoot them and turn them into rugs or wall ornaments, make me sick.
Imagine if some guy wandering around the Antarctic finds a meteorite with evidence of Martian life in it, and whacks it with a sledgehammer...
Re:Pathetic that this animal was shot... (Score:5, Informative)
I'm still not a big fan of shooting them, but I can see why it might be allowed, especially near human settlements.
Re:Pathetic that this animal was shot... (Score:5, Funny)
Re:Pathetic that this animal was shot... (Score:5, Funny)
Let me introduce you to my ex-girlfriend...
A reasonable altyernative (Score:3, Insightful)
Then why not make the areas where polar bears live off-limits to humans? We inhabit every single part of the Earth, why not leave some space for other animals? If an animal species is being driven to extintcion due to habitat encroachment by humans, then it's only reasonable that humans stay off that species' natural habitat.
IMHO, a polar bear is justified in killing a human because it's in his nature, but a human is supposed t
Re:A reasonable altyernative (Score:4, Interesting)
Because then the bears breed and expand their population, which expands their territory and suddenly the bears are threatening our enclaves again.
I believe that the limit is something around a hundred bears a year. That's why you get the rich 'big game hunters' as they're the only ones who can afford the resulting high fees.
If an animal species is being driven to extintcion due to habitat encroachment by humans, then it's only reasonable that humans stay off that species' natural habitat.
They're not endangered, though their population density is tiny. And their 'natural' habitat is anywhere there's food, minus areas where more warm climate adapted bears take the territory.
IMHO, a polar bear is justified in killing a human because it's in his nature, but a human is supposed to be "rational", which means, logical reasoning should prevail over his instinct to kill.
We haven't wiped out the Polar Bears entirely, nor that many other large species recently in the northern hemisphere. I'd tend to say we are controlling it, and death/predation is both part of nature and man.
Re:A reasonable altyernative (Score:2)
Re:Pathetic that this animal was shot... (Score:2, Insightful)
Re:Pathetic that this animal was shot... (Score:3, Insightful)
Polar Bears around that area are so numerous they're getting to be a big problem and they have to be culled. Mostly because Polars like to supplement their diet of seals, fish and walrus with fresh dump pickings. I've heard stories of smoldering polar bears wandering through the dump at Churchil Manitoba.
Canadian Polar Bear Hunt (Score:5, Interesting)
Some details for your consideration:
Inuit communities are allowed a certain number of polar bear tags each season, based in part on the idea of sustainable yield (how sustainable I can't say). This is in recognition of the importance of the polar bear hunt in their traditional culture.
Each community decides how to allot their tags. Some places use all of the tags internally for subsistence hunting. Others sell a portion of them to big-game hunters, which brings a lot of money to the community. This is arguably a more efficient form of subsistence hunting: What's a better use of the resource, a) killing a bear and eating it or b)selling the chance to shoot a bear to a rich hunter and then spending the tens of thousands of dollars raised on feeding your community? Tags for outsiders are only available through the Inuit communities.
And yes, it's true that polar bears are dangerous, and anyone working in the arctic needs to carry a rifle in case of emergency encounters. Government research projects are extremely touchy about this (my wife's been up a few times) - spotting a bear anywhere near a camp results in the camp being moved rather than risk the death of a bear or a human. However, the suggestion by another poster that the hunt is necessary to keep communities safe is bullshit. Which is not to say nuisance bears won't get killed, but it certainly won't be part of the hunting tag system.
yp.
Re:Canadian Polar Bear Hunt (Score:3, Interesting)
If the reason why Inuit communities are allowed to hunt polar bear is because this is deemed to be part of their traditional culture, why are they allowed to sell their "polar bear tags" to non-Inuits? Is trading their traditions for money also part of their traditional culture? Or is Inuit traditional culture just Canadian government's pretext to explain why polar bear hunting is allowed, the real reason being that it brings good money into Canadian economy?
Just wondering.
Re:Canadian Polar Bear Hunt (Score:3, Insightful)
I expect that the amount of money polar bear hunting brings to the Canadian economy is trivial. However, it is far from trivial for the native communities involved. And given all that the Canadian government has imposed on the Inuit, I think it's a good thing that they've allowed them to make their own decisions in at least this one aspect of managing their resources.
If I recall correctly, Scotland (could've been another north Atlantic country, my undergrad is a long ways back now) adopted a similar polic
Re:Canadian Polar Bear Hunt (Score:3, Insightful)
To restate my point, if you allow Inuit communities to trade their "polar bear tags" for money it means that polar bear hunting is nothing but an economic subsidy.
Given that polar bears are now considered an endangered species [biologicaldiversity.org], that makes a big difference.
I don't know Inuit traditions, but it is possible that the role of a polar bear is irreplaceable in some of them. If that is the case, I can understand the argument for allowing some hunting, even if I may not agree.
However, if hunting is just intend
Re:Canadian Polar Bear Hunt (Score:2)
It's part of the more modern aboriginal culture everywhere in the world. There wouldn't be much attendance if they opened a casino, and there isn't much opportunity for smuggling.
Re:Canadian Polar Bear Hunt (Score:2)
Erm... estimated world population of barely 22,000 [spiegel.de] for polar bears. How many billions of humans are there? 6? 7? 8!? I forget.
Anyway, my point? We should be giving the rifles to the polar bears, if only they could use them.
Re:Pathetic that this animal was shot... (Score:2)
Shooting grizzlies is legal if you have a tag, just not many tags sold a year.
Re:Pathetic that this animal was shot... (Score:3, Interesting)
Re:Pathetic that this animal was shot... (Score:2, Insightful)
it's not "class warfare" (Score:2)
People like you just find it convenient to deflect from their reprehensible behavior by saying "you'd do this, too, if you only had the money". Well, sorry to burst your bubble, but that's wrong: while we excuse bad choices made under economic or other duress to
Re:Pathetic that this animal was shot... (Score:2)
Re:Pathetic that this animal was shot... (Score:2)
Seems like it wouldn't have been discovered if that bonehead hadn't shot it.
If scientists need to study the hybrid bears, they can always examine the specimens in zoos.
Re:Pathetic that this animal was shot... (Score:3, Insightful)
You apparently didn't "hear" the real distinction, which was people who shoot things to make dinner versus people who shoot things to make decorations for their den.
I have family who hunts for sport -- as in they don't need to hunt in order to eat -- and likes a good
Re:Pathetic that this animal was shot... (Score:2)
The fact that a "wealthy trophy hunter" shot it carries a lot of information about the motivations of the person behind the gun. Talking about a him this way is a perfectly reasonable and legitimate way to summarize this.
More generally, disapproval of such frivolous behavior often has nothing to do with envy. Many people could aff
Re:Pathetic that this animal was shot... (Score:3, Interesting)
It's only illegal to kill something pointlessly if you're not rich enough to waste 45,000 dollars to do it.
That's your lesson for the day boys and girls. Everything is moral if you have enough money.
I'm not entirely opposed to hunting, but he'd better eat that fucking bear.
Re:Pathetic that this animal was shot... (Score:2)
Re:Pathetic that this animal was shot... (Score:2)
Kinda sounds like a point-and-click interface to me.
Re:Pathetic that this animal was shot... (Score:2)
Re:Pathetic that this animal was shot... (Score:2)
trophy "hunters" (Score:5, Insightful)
Interestingly, the people who were most offended were other hunters. Not trophy hunters, but those who hunt legally as a means to control herd populations and to feed their families. In my experince, standard hunters aren't so inexperienced and quick to shoot at anything that moves than a normal hunter. I mean you've got to get somethingto show for your 45K right?
And now, because this "hunter" didn't know the value of this animal, it is dead before it could be studied further and / or protected.
Re:trophy "hunters" (Score:2)
Grizzly-polar bear mixes are dangerous for both breeds; its a DNA cross contamination that, if it occured more frequently, would water down both breeds.
It is sad that a fairly unique creature is killed. It
Re:trophy "hunters" (Score:2)
Re:trophy "hunters" (Score:2)
I just think that if the government feels that it needs to hand out a limited number of tags, to manage a large predator population, it should be like the indians and seek the largest use from it.
If that means catering to
Re:trophy "hunters" (Score:3, Interesting)
As others have pointed out, conservation biology says that this cross is a bad thing, meaning it has very low value and should not be protected. See controversy over the conservation of various big cats through cross-breeding for more info.
Must be a really rare spawn (Score:3, Funny)
Note to self...really gotta take a break from MMORPGs
life imitates art (Score:2)
this is straight out of colbert
What does Hanso have to say about this? (Score:3, Funny)
from the no-one-tell-stephen-colbert dept. (Score:2)
Well, it looks like someone missed an episode last week...
I can explain it (Score:4, Funny)
Clearly none of the people speculating spend much time drinking. You can mate anything with enough Tequila.
Re:I can explain it (Score:2)
Re:I can explain it (Score:2)
On the other hand, its pretty hard to say no to a 500kg bear. Not that I frequent those kind of bars...
Re:I can explain it (Score:2, Funny)
While working in Alaska, an oil worker from Texas decides he wants to try to fit in and be accepted by the locals. So, while at a bar, he asks what he would have to do to be considered a real Alaskan. A local fella tells him that there are three steps. First, he has to drink a pint of Alaskan whisky in a single draught. Second, he has to shoot a polar bear. And third, he has to make love to an Eskimo woman.
After downing the whisky, he wobbles out of the bar,
same domestic problems as humans (Score:3, Funny)
alcohol
--
there's more, you know (Score:4, Insightful)
Maybe the scientists who would have liked to study a grizzly/polar mix should go to a zoo, where they already exist, as mentioned in the article. I think that would be a lot easier.
Sounds like a job for Animal Of The Week (Score:4, Funny)
" animal of the week today is the polar bear which is pretty much the king of the animal kingdom because it is a cross of the best bits of a tiger, a shark and a Hulk Hogan. if you think that you can imagine how strong a polar bear is then think again because you are wrong. it is stronger than that and it is probably stronger than your next guess. we are talking about an animal that can leg press over 500kg and curl 200kg with ease. pretty much the only thing that it cant do is squat thrusts but they are gay anyway. polar bears have a furry bellend to protect it from the cold."
Animal Of The Week [animaloftheweek.co.uk]
we'll never know (Score:3, Funny)
From overlooked-irony dept (Score:2, Funny)
Well, they were luckier than the bear.
Kinda like a liger (Score:2, Funny)
Re:Was it a mule? (Score:5, Insightful)
they are really the same species."
Nah, different species can interbreed and produce fertile offspring. Look up "ring species" for examples where A can breed with B, and B can breed with C but C cannot breed with A.
Mostly this reflects the fact that the term "species" is a fairly arbitrary distinction that goes back before our understanding of evolution.
Re:Was it a mule? (Score:2)
Unfortunately some modern zoologists decided that they didn't like this definition and more or less arbitrarily started defining species however they saw fit. The resu
Re:Was it a mule? (Score:2)
Re:Was it a mule? (Score:2)
Grizzlies already live in territory all the way to the Arctic Ocean. For them to migrate any further into polar bear territory, they'd have to venture out onto the Arctic ice. A) Why would they want to? and B) As the earth warms, they may not even be able to reach the ice.
Re:Was it a mule? (Score:5, Insightful)
they are really the same species.
That's really an older view of things. There are many animals that are concidered different species even though a fertile rare hybrid appears. The most obvious is wolves, coyotes and dogs. But also different species of abalone, cicklids(sp?) are other examples. Biologists have a hard time defining on what exactly makes a species, because horizontal gene transfer among what are considered species happens surprisingly often.
Re:Was it a mule? (Score:2)
LK
Re:Was it a mule? (Score:2, Interesting)
What's really interesting is, because of that, wolf-dog hybrids are more likely to attack humans than wolves. Wolves, while sometimes wi
Re:Was it a mule? (Score:2)
Re:Was it a mule? (Score:2, Funny)
Given that polar bear / grizzly hybrids are usually made fun of by their peers and ostracized to the point of reclusiveness, I'd say none at all.
Slashdot geeks are fertile, but do you see them breeding? Same deal. Someone ought to hook these poor hybrid cubs up with HL2 so they have something to do in their parents' basements.
Re:Was it a mule? (Score:2)
Re:Was it a mule? (Score:2)
So you're telling me Cameron Diaz and I really are seperate species?! I knew there was a reason she kept refusing to sleep with me...
Re:Was it a mule? (Score:2)
Re:Was it a mule? (Score:2)
Re:Was it a mule? (Score:2, Funny)
previous warm periods (like the 8000 BC to 4000 BC "climate optimum").
Wow! Homo Sapiens was destroying the planet that far back?
Re:Was it a mule? (Score:2)
Re:Was it a mule? (Score:2)
Re:Bit Old? (Score:2)
Re:possibly killing (Score:2)
Re:Headline misleading (Score:2, Informative)
Wild in this case certainly means not bred in captivity.
So maybe Parent should have spent less time reading TFA and more time reading TFH.
Re:Headline misleading (Score:2)
Was it really that hard to figure out?
LK
Re:Headline misleading (Score:2)
Re:Old News (Score:2)
Re:Slashdot FUD (Score:3, Insightful)
You've got it exactly backwards. Sure, no one is interested in studying the carcass, because they've done all they need on captive hybrids. But I bet there are plenty of scientists who would love to get the chance to radio-tag a live one and follow it around in the wild for a while. Does it behave like a gri
Re:Slashdot FUD (Score:2)