Grin And Bear It

This is a great article I read about a former polar bear keeper at the Calgary zoo, in the Calgary Herald. She did a study on bear behavior, due to the odd depression-like behavior of one of her polar bears in the 90s, and has been studying such behavior ever since. I think studies like this are so important, there is not nearly enough studies being done on things like animal emotions. She discusses polar bear depression and "polar bear prozac", definitely worth a read. Perhaps the more scientific research we can compile on how much these guys FEEL, the more world governments will be inclined to care for their potentially nonexistent futures.

Grin and Bear It

Another good arctic-related story I read was a blog on Reuters about the UN climate talks starting in Bonn and the colorful protests commencing outside. I agree with the blogger, the cactus is my favorite.

Polar Bears and a Cactus Urge Climate Action in Bonn

Is the Obama Administration Forgetting the Bears?

Although this is a story that really started about a week and a half ago, it is still just as relevant today. You may or may not have been aware of a Bush-era rule saying that although Polar Bears were protected under the endangered species act, this could not be used as a reason to restrict emissions of greenhouse gases. In short, you can't shoot em', but go ahead and drowned em'.

Well, May 8th of this year the same rule was put before the Obama administration to uphold or overturn. Unfortunately for reasons unknown to me, they (secretary Salazar in particular) decided to uphold this particularly cruel Bush administration rule. Read more about this report here, here and here.

To take action against this ruling, you can Sign THIS petition at savethepolarbear.org

Pass this around, because these guys are not going to save themselves.

Polar bear peace!

Adrienne

P.S: Picture via NewsMiner, if you are in Alaska check out this art show!

Can a sad polar bear make you turn off the lights?

Hello all! Today I have an interesting article I saw in the Boston Globe from a few days ago. Apparently, a couple of schools are using energy meters in their dorms to measure how much energy the students are conserving. However, instead of a normal meter, they use a "polar bear" meter. The system is called TellEmotion and is meant to make an emotional connection with energy conservation. When the students are conserving well, the polar bear slumbers and smiles. However, when they are leaving the lights on or not conserving well, the ice beneath the bears paws will begin to melt, the polar bear frowns and will eventually fall in to the water flailing to stay afloat. Is this too much? Well, I thought about it, and I'd say NO. It's about time real students are seeing real, albeit digitized, examples of what not conserving resources can do. You can read the full post about this silly and brilliant system here, as well as who made it and why.

Alaska

A fun post today! Since I did a post on Alaskan polar bears yesterday, I thought it would only be appropriate to do todays post on a movie that influenced my very first adoration for Polar Bears. I first saw this movie at a school movie night, sitting on the ground of my schools cafeteria in the 3rd grade. It is called, and appropriately so, "Alaska". I re-watched this movie with my partner recently and fell back in love with it.

The story is based around the family in the movie, but has a very strong undertone of protecting local ecosystems and the horror of illegal poaching (there is a very sad polar bear poaching scene, so fyi in advance for that). The main polar bear in the movie is a small adorable cub (Whom they name "Cubby") who follows two kids on their adventure to save their father who has crashed his plane in the wilderness of Alaska. It is a great film that the whole family can enjoy and learn from! Below is the trailer.

Alaska (Theatrical Trailer) High Quality
by NakedBrotha2007

As always, thanks for reading!

Adrienne

Follow- Ice Bears of the Beaufort

Hello again. Every now and then I will find a polar bear cause which stands out, makes mes cry, I feel can use some help, or all of the above. Today, I've got the amazing and inspirational documentary and project Ice Bears of the Beaufort

You can preview the movie, here.

Besides the fact that is an awe inspiring film, this one also hits close to home. While many groups focus a lot of their attention on global warming to solve the greater problem of polar bear extinction, these particular polar bears are actually threatened by another human greed; oil. They are also right here in the U.S., Alaska.

I hope that you can take the time to look through their site, and hopefully see the film. There are many things we can do to support this project, including but not limited to spreading the word! I cannot find a place to make donations on their site just yet, but if they do so in the future, I will update this post. Thanks again for reading!

Adrienne.

(Via icebearsofthebeaufort.com )

Hello!

My name is Adrienne Dene`. I created this blog because I have a deep admiration for the planet, animals, and polar bears in particular. As I'm sure you know, polar bears are a majestic animal, and an endangered animal. I found quite a few polar bear resources online, but I wanted to have a place of my own, to bring these sources together. I will be posting news on polars bears, the climate change, polar bear related stories I find inspiring, and of course, ways you can help. As much as I'll enjoy writing this blog, it's not for me. It's for the bears. Thanks for reading!

Adrienne.