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DNA Tests Confirm Bear Was a Hybrid
Associated Press via Earthlink News ^
| Staff
Posted on 05/11/2006 6:57:25 AM PDT by VadeRetro
IQALUIT, Nunavut - Northern hunters, scientists and people with vivid imaginations have discussed the possibility for years.
But Roger Kuptana, an Inuvialuit guide from Sachs Harbour, Northwest Territories, was the first to suspect it had actually happened when he proposed that a strange-looking bear shot last month by an American sports hunter might be half polar bear, half grizzly.
Territorial officials seized the creature after noticing its white fur was scattered with brown patches and that it had the long claws and humped back of a grizzly. Now a DNA test has confirmed that it is indeed a hybrid - possibly the first documented in the wild.
"We've known it's possible, but actually most of us never thought it would happen," said Ian Stirling, a polar bear biologist with the Canadian Wildlife Service in Edmonton.
Polar bears and grizzlies have been successfully paired in zoos before - Stirling could not speculate why - and their offspring are fertile.
Breeding seasons for the two species overlap, though polar bear gets started slightly earlier.
![](http://my.eimg.net/harvest_xml/NEWS/img/20060510/44616540_3ca7_1552720060510-1899052272.jpg)
TOPICS: News/Current Events
KEYWORDS: crevolist; science; zoology
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To: akorahil
I'd LOVE to have a liger!!!!!
Love those BIG cats!
41
posted on
05/11/2006 7:20:48 AM PDT
by
nmh
(Intelligent people recognize Intelligent Design (God) !)
To: massadvj
I know it's not possible to mate polar bears with grizzlies because the way I interpret the bible, it would be impossible. And so I wish to use the force of law to suppress stories of this nature; and teach our children the bible, only the bible, and nothing but the bible. That is all.If you search long enough you may find somebody in a remote cabin that would fit your (unspoken) profile of a narrow-minded, ignorant, unloving Bible-thumper. But take some snacks with you. I believe you will get hungry before your search is over.
42
posted on
05/11/2006 7:21:12 AM PDT
by
Drawsing
(The fool shows his annoyance at once. The prudent man overlooks an insult. (Proverbs 12:16))
To: VadeRetro
BEER?
![](http://www.avbc.com/visit/BvlBeer.jpg)
How'd ja like ta see one of these?
43
posted on
05/11/2006 7:22:03 AM PDT
by
P8riot
(Stupid is forever, ignorance can be fixed.)
To: ArrogantBustard
Does that mean that they're not different species, but rather different "races" of the same species?Yep. I think that's the definition of species--that the members can breed fertile offspring. The two bears must be different breeds... Like chihuahuas and Saint Bernards... but not like horses and donkeys... which give you sterile mule offspring, and are different species.
So, the globabl warming tragedy of the polar bear is not a species problem after all. There will still be plenty of bears to go around.
To: nmh
are you saying you have a pet leopard-hybrid? Or are these all cat breeds like siamese and calico that your talking about? Is't a 1/2 leopard a very dangerous animal to be taking showers with?
To: nmh
46
posted on
05/11/2006 7:24:20 AM PDT
by
Pyro7480
(Sancte Joseph, terror daemonum, ora pro nobis!)
To: nmh
Well for one thing I don't buy into the tens of millions of years ago. Again, "ligers" are a direct mix of a lion and a tiger, by CHOICE. There's really quite a lot of evidence for the current picture regarding the age of the Earth and the tree of life. Lions and tigers do not overlap anywhere in the wild in modern times with the shrinkage of their ranges. (A possible exception is the one tiny forest preserve in India where the last few dozen Indian lions live. It may or may not have the occasional stray tiger for all I know.)
47
posted on
05/11/2006 7:25:02 AM PDT
by
VadeRetro
(Faster than a speeding building; able to leap tall bullets at a single bound!)
To: Jack Black
48
posted on
05/11/2006 7:26:15 AM PDT
by
Pyro7480
(Sancte Joseph, terror daemonum, ora pro nobis!)
To: Jack Black
only if you drop the soap
To: ArrogantBustard
Hmmmm ...
Are "Ligers" fertile? How about your cat?
This polar/grizzly cross is ... mules are not.
When they start out with the Asian leopard and the domestic Egyptian Mau typically the resulting MALE (F1) is infertile. The females are fertile. So you take it from there. A generation or so removed from the parents and males are then typically fertile and the breed continues. Also an F1 kitten of this mix is not appropriate for a pet. It's too wild and you need an experienced breeder to ONLY continue the breed with descendent's of good temperament, looks etc.. Like anything else, you MUST deal with a reputable breeder.
As for Ligers I believe the same scenario is true on the issue of male/female infertility. There is no reason why this mix could not continue.
50
posted on
05/11/2006 7:27:30 AM PDT
by
nmh
(Intelligent people recognize Intelligent Design (God) !)
To: Pyro7480
OH MY!!!
Looks like my little Debbie!!! Although she's not so little anymore. She'll be a year old this August and growing FAST.
No kidding!
THAT'S HER!!!!
My naughty little girl ... .
51
posted on
05/11/2006 7:29:35 AM PDT
by
nmh
(Intelligent people recognize Intelligent Design (God) !)
To: toomanylaws
Typical government action by seizing property from a private citizen who probably paid many thousands of dollars for the hunt. Governments are very adept at seizing property, taxing, conducting investigations, etc. Yes, very typical.
52
posted on
05/11/2006 7:29:52 AM PDT
by
Starboard
(Liberal superiorists hate the system that allows average people to make more money than they do.)
To: massadvj
"I know it's not possible to mate polar bears with grizzlies because the way I interpret the bible, it would be impossible."
In your absurd efforts to put others down you missed the most glaringly obvious point: It's still a bear.
BTW, next time at least say something that makes sense. Two bears mating doesn't go against the Bible at all.
To: PBRSTREETGANG
Once you go grizzly, you'll never go back.
To: nmh
I had a cat that was half bobcat, half house cat. It happens out the woods sometimes.
55
posted on
05/11/2006 7:31:17 AM PDT
by
sandbar
To: VadeRetro
Why did they kill it; was it attacking them?
To: Jack Black
An asian leopard cat is not a leopard. It is a wild species, though.
57
posted on
05/11/2006 7:32:37 AM PDT
by
VadeRetro
(Faster than a speeding building; able to leap tall bullets at a single bound!)
To: ExTexasRedhead
Sport. Don't ask me to explain. I just posted it.
58
posted on
05/11/2006 7:33:30 AM PDT
by
VadeRetro
(Faster than a speeding building; able to leap tall bullets at a single bound!)
To: VadeRetro
That's a small bear and these bastards should be real proud of their short kill.
59
posted on
05/11/2006 7:33:34 AM PDT
by
Treader
(Human convenience is always on the edge of a breakthrough, or a sellout)
To: VadeRetro
You don't need millions of years to create hybrids.
Since I have no scoured the entire earth I could not make the statements you are making:
1. There's really quite a lot of evidence for the current picture regarding the age of the Earth and the tree of life.
It depends on how you interpret the evidence and when you conquer the faulty dating methods, perhaps you'll get my attention. For example, red blood cells found in the tissue of a T rex just don't last millions of years.
2. Lions and tigers do not overlap anywhere in the wild in modern times with the shrinkage of their ranges.
Unless you have seen ALL there is out there, you cannot say that is fact. Every now and then we discover NEW animals that we never dreamed existed. There is absolutely NO reason to NOT accept that other hybrids are out there - just as your posted article states.
60
posted on
05/11/2006 7:34:00 AM PDT
by
nmh
(Intelligent people recognize Intelligent Design (God) !)
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