Posts Tagged ‘Bear’
National Geographic: Remembering the Woman Who Helped Bears in Distress
Bears smile just like we do, said Else Poulsen, who understood what makes them tick. By Laurel Neme PUBLISHED April 20, 2016 Few people know bears as intimately as author and bear behavioralist Else Poulsen, who died on April 15 in her home in Ontario, Canada, after a battle with cancer. She was 61. If ever…
Read MoreNational Geographic: Did Polar Bears Really Lose at CITES?
Posted by Laurel Neme in Polar Bear Watch on March 29, 2013 Delegates at the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species (CITES) 16th Conference of Parties held in Bangkok in March rejected a proposal to ban international trade in polar bears and their parts. The decision caused a stir because polar bears face a precarious future. While some…
Read MoreThe WildLife: Polar Bears, Global Warming and CITES Decision, Dr. Steven Amstrup
Dr. Steven Amstrup has been studying polar bears and their habitat since 1980, and much of what we know about them, and even how scientists study them, comes from his work. For instance, he was the first person to apply radio telemetry to the study of polar bears, which allowed scientists to understand the…
Read MoreThe WildLife: Bear Bile Trade in Asia, Kaitlyn Foley
Kaitlyn Foley, senior programme officer at TRAFFIC Southeast Asia, talks about the bear bile trade in Asia. She tells “The WildLife” host Laurel Neme how recent research by TRAFFIC shows that the illegal bear bile trade continues unabated across Asia on a large scale. The poaching and illegal trade of bears is driven largely by the demand for their bile, which…
Read MoreThe Forgotten Bear
From JeffCorwinConnects.com: By Laurel NemeMay 25, 2011 Malayan sun bears, also known as honey bears (or Helarctos malayanus), are the least known of the world’s eight bear species. Few people know they even exist, especially compared with other types of bears, like polar bears and grizzlies. Perhaps part of that is because sun bears are so challenging to…
Read MoreMongabay.com: Pet trade, palm oil, and poaching: the challenges of saving the ‘forgotten bear’
By Laurel Neme, special to mongabay.comMarch 20, 2011 This interview originally aired May 17, 2010. It was transcribed by Diane Hannigan. Siew Te Wong is one of the few scientists who study sun bears (Ursus malayanus). He spoke with Laurel Neme on her “The WildLife” radio show and podcast about the interesting biological characteristics of this…
Read MoreBill Introduced in NY to Ban Commercial Trade in Bear Bile & Gallbladders
On Monday, March 14, a bill to protect bears from profiteering by banning the commercial trade in their gallbladders and bile (which is used in traditional Asian medicine) was introduced in New York. Like my home state of Vermont, New York shares the dubious distinction of being one of only five states that allow trade…
Read MoreExpansion of Bear Bile Production by Chinese Firm?
A blog from The Wall Street Journal notes that Gui Zhen Tang Co., one of China’s largest bear bile production facilities and southern China’s largest bear farm, recently raised $11 million to expand its business in the traditional medicine market. An article in the UK’s Telegraph notes that local media reports of the company’s plans to be listed on…
Read MoreThe WildLife: Polar Bears, Robert Buchanan
Robert Buchanan, President and CEO of Polar Bears International (PBI), shares the special adaptations of polar bears to a life on the ice. He tells “The WildLife” host Laurel Neme how their huge paws, the size of dinner plates, act like snowshoes to distribute their weight and keep them from breaking through the ice. He also reveals that the…
Read MoreThe WildLife: Bear Behavior & Emotions, Else Poulsen, Part II
Else Poulsen, bear expert and author of the book SMILING BEARS, shares her insights into bear behavior and emotions through stories about some of the bears she has known. She also details to “The WildLife” host Laurel Neme how she uses this knowledge to improve the lives of bears in captivity in this second of a two-part…
Read MoreThe WildLife: A Zookeeper’s Bear Adventures, Else Poulsen, Part I
Else Poulsen, bear expert and author of the book SMILING BEARS, talks about her adventures as a zookeeper and her work uncovering the emotional lives of bears in this first of a two-part interview. She reveals to “The WildLife” host Laurel Neme what makes these creatures so special – something she’s learned from years of raising…
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