Free Republic

A recent drone search for a missing husky in Kamchatka, Russia, took a surprising turn when the pet was found not alone, but playfully interacting with a group of wild brown bears. The undated footage, now going viral on social media, shows the husky trailing the bears and even circling them excitedly. While one bear attempts to nudge the dog away when it gets too close, the overall interaction appears non-threatening.

April 12 (UPI) -- The Florida Highway Patrol posted security camera footage showing a hungry bear attempting to break into a parked patrol car. The FHP's Troop F, based in the southwest part of the state, posted a video to Instagram showing the furry suspect who is "wanted" for "attempted burglary of [an] FHP state trooper car." The footage shows the bear, apparently on the hunt for snacks, approach the parked vehicle and attempt to use its mouth and paws to work the door handle. The attempted break-in by the bear, nicknamed "Teddy" by the FHP, was ultimately unsuccessful, as...

The Biden administration's plan to relocate grizzly bear populations to rural parts of Washington State will have a devastating impact on agriculture and livestock in the region while posing a significant danger to local communities, a fifth generation cattle producer warned. Residents of Washington State are doubling down on their concerns surrounding the federal government's plan to translocate grizzly bears, an apex predator, to the federally-managed North Cascades National Park, after the National Park Service and U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service declared the strategy their preferred plan for grizzly bear management in the region. The North Cascades National Park borders...

Two people were hospitalized after being attacked by a bear in Slovakia, officials reported Sunday. The Environment Ministry may propose making the animals easier to hunt to reduce their population. A 49-year-old woman suffered a wound to her shoulder and a 72-year-old man was treated for a gash on his hand from the bear in the town of Liptovsky Mikuláš, emergency services said. Police drove the bear out of town.. A day prior to the latest attack, a 31-year-old Belarussian woman apparently fell to her death trying to escape a brown bear in the nearby Low Tatra mountains. She and...

A Pennsylvania woman is recovering in a hospital after a vicious assault by a mother bear .. The incident reportedly took place around 8:30 p.m. just outside the victim’s house. Lee Ann Galante, 55, stepped out to let her dog, a small black Pomeranian, enjoy the backyard, ... With injuries across her arm, face, neck and head, Galante’s condition necessitated urgent medical attention, police said,.. She was rushed to the nearby hospital following the attack ... "I thought I was going to die." A woman who was hospitalized after being mauled . ... Galante shared her ordeal from her hospital...

On February 21, 2024, the Florida Senate amended and passed HB 87. The bill allows people threatened by bears to use deadly force to protect themselves when they reasonably believe a bear is a danger to themselves, others, or their pets or is causing significant damage to their dwelling. The bill has already passed the House. The changes made in the Senate are not large. It seems likely the bill will end up on Governor DeSantis’ desk and be signed into law. Floridians had the authority to protect themselves and their property from bears until the Florida Fish & Wildlife...

On February 15, 2024, the Florida House passed CS/HB 87: Taking of Bears. The bill passed 88 to 29. It will now be sent to the Florida Senate. The bill has been prompted by a burgeoning black bear population in Florida, which has increased exponentially from 300 – 500 bears in 1974 to 2,650 in 2002 to an estimated 4,350 in 2016. No official population estimate has been made for eight years. The bear population increased 60% from 2002 to 2014/15. If the trend continues into 2024, the black bear population will be estimated at over 6,000. Cubs are not...

Spain’s Iberian brown bear population, which was once almost extinct, has made such a strong recovery that a ranger patrol was set up to deter them from roaming into small villages in the country’s north. The regional government of Castile and Leon arranged for the patrol, which consists of nine rangers, to guard residents and their crops in the mining town of Villablino and the surrounding area, in the province of Palencia, ... bear can weigh from 330 to 550 pounds and stand over 6.5 feet tall, ... Angeles Orallo, 73, has been attempting to keep the bears away from...

Former Chicago Bears Super Bowl-winning quarterback Jim McMahon blasted the Biden administration for its abject failure on immigration, pushed his cannabis company, and even hinted in a recent Fox News interview that he could run for president one day. McMahon, known as the “Punky QB” during the Bears’ 1980s heyday, is a co-founder, along with former All-Pro offensive lineman Kyle Turley, of cannabis company Revenant, according to Fox News. Turley and McMahon have been advocating for the SAFE Banking Act, which, if passed, would force the banking industry to protect the right of state-authorized cannabis companies to do business. Some...

On December 18, 2017, the Canadian Province of British Columbia banned hunting of grizzly bears, except by indigenous tribes. It appears to be a natural experiment that will help determine the effects of grizzly bear hunting practices. Tribes known as “First Nations” are allowed to kill bears. The exact effect of the ban is not clear or precise. Taltan hunters still hunt the bears, but they are not killing enough of them. But when the B.C. government banned the grizzly bear trophy hunt in 2017, the system was thrown out of whack. While the Tahltan could still hunt for food,...

In the debate about effective defense methods against aggressive bears, some people claim extreme speed and accuracy are essential to stopping a bear attack with firearms. Here are some quotes.From Efficacy of Firearms for Bear Deterrence in Alaska:The need for split-second deployment and deadly accuracy make using firearms difficult, even for experts.From cowboystatedaily.com: Many experts seem to favor bear spray. One drawback of firearms they cite is the inability of many shooters to make accurate, quick-kill shots under the extreme stress of a bear attack. From backcountrychronicles.com:If you shoot something as big as a grizzly bear and are not lucky...

On Sunday, March 24, 2013, a determined polar bear made a fatal error in the prey selection process. The six-year-old healthy male would not be deterred from getting at two humans in a cabin located on Svalbard (administered by Norway) at Hornsund on the island of Spitsbergen. Hornsund is the most southern fjord on the southern tip of the Island of Spitsbergen in the Svalbard archipelago, about 140 km south of Longyearbyen.The incident was reported in newsinenglish.no in 2013. The incident is confirmed in the PBHIMS database obtained by AmmoLand, which includes many reports of polar bear attacks that happened...

An illustrious kicking career has reached its end. Veteran placekicker Robbie Gould announced his retirement after 18 NFL seasons on Thursday via an article published by The Players' Tribune. "Now, although football has been a really great part of my life for the past 18 years, it is with the utmost regard and appreciation that I officially announce my retirement from the National Football League," Gould wrote in the piece, in which he recapped his winding NFL journey that saw him kick for three franchises (the Bears, Giants and 49ers). "Will I miss it? Absolutely. The fire to play and...

From 2007 to the present (2023), there have been more fatal bear attacks in Japan than in the United States. It is possible there have been more total bear attacks in Japan than in the United States, but records of total attacks are not as clear. Through the end of October of 2023, there were 180 bear attacks where a person was injured in Japan. From JapanNews:Tokyo, Nov. 1 (Jiji Press)—The number of people attacked by bears in Japan between April and October totaled 180, already a record high on a fiscal year basis since the statistics started in fiscal...

A surprising result of the research to determine if handguns are effective when used in defense against bears is that they appear to be more effective than rifles or shotguns. This is a surprise. Rifles and shotguns tend to be more powerful than pistols. They are also easier to use accurately at a distance. When expecting a bear encounter, the preferred firearm is almost always a high-powered rifle or a shotgun.Terms become very important in this discussion. Rifles and shotguns are better tools for hunting bears than most defensive handguns.Hunting is not the same as defending.Much of the advantage of...

The number of Florida bears has skyrocketed. The bear population was estimated at 300-500 in 1974. Black bear hunting was banned in Florida in 1994 when the population was estimated at 1280 to 1290. In 1998, the population was estimated at 1500. According to the tampabay.com, there were 2,000 to 2,500 bears in 2006. In a 2015 bear hunt, a meager 304 bears were harvested. In 2016, the population was estimated at 4,350 bears. No study has been done to estimate the bear population since then.Bears are very adaptable. There remains considerable habitat for bears to populate in Florida in...

NFL legend Dick Butkus has reportedly died on Thursday at the age of 80. Emergency crews arrived at Butkus’ home in Malibu around 12.51pm, where he was pronounced dead at the scene.

Two people and their dog were found dead at Banff National Park on Saturday after a grizzly bear attack. A GPS device alerted Parks Canada on Friday night, indicating a bear attack was happening within the Red Deer River Valley region west of Ya Ha Tinda Ranch in Canada’s Banff National Park... Due to poor weather conditions, an emergency team reportedly could not fly to the location via helicopter, so they traveled by ground during the night. When the team arrived at the scene, they reportedly found two individuals who were deceased and ... The victim’s identities have not been...

The Biden administration unveiled a proposal to reintroduce grizzly bear populations in the federally-managed North Cascades National Park in northern Washington. ... As part of the announcement, the public is invited to comment through mid-November. ... “The National Parks Service and Fish and Wildlife Service should end this process immediately by rescinding the draft EIS and proposed 10(j) rule. The introduction of grizzlies into the North Cascades would be devastating for our North Central Washington communities,” said Congressional Western Caucus Chairman Dan Newhouse, R-Wash. “Time and again, our communities have spoken to express staunch opposition to the introduction of these...

In the Land of White Death, by Valerian Albanov, English translation published in 2000 by Random House, 205 pages. Original published in Russian in 1917. This is the story of an ill-fated ship, as written by one of only two survivors, the officer who was the navigator of the Santa Clara. The ship went to sea ill prepared, without key provisions and trained personnel. Trapped in Arctic ice for two years, the navigator lead a group attempting to reach land over the pack ice. This is his story, a direct, first person account of survival against daunting obstacles.The dismal fate...