Strollerderby : bears

Would You Take Your Kids to a Petting Zoo with Lions, Tigers, and Bears?

Hannah Tennant-Moore — Sat, 11 Apr 2009 20:28:00 GMT

In case you’re planning a family vacation and you happen not to care about either animal rights or your children’s limbs, you should totally go to the Lujan Zoo in Argentina, where visitors are allowed to feed, cuddle, or ride the backs of lions, tigers, and bears.

“Even children are allowed to enter the lion's cage and fondle a range of animals that have the potential to kill or maim them,” reports the Daily Mail. Does that sound thrilling or what? Here are some photographic examples of just how close Lujan lets tourists get to deadly animals that appear to be inhumanely sedated (or at least overfed and suicidally bored):

Here’s a photo of the zookeepers “monitoring” the uncaged animals. I’d definitely trust these guys with my life—plus, I’ll bet they know a great place to grab a few tequila shots after all this lion cuddling.

Despite Lujan’s assurance that the keepers love their animals and care about their visitors’ safety, animal rights activists are not convinced. According to the CEO of Born Free Foundation, “Anyone who has any knowledge of big cats will understand that they are wild animals and, as such, are unpredictable....I also note that the zoo makes claims to educate and conserve. Well, if they think teaching people that it's OK to stroke tigers and pet primates is educational, they are just plain wrong.”

Who said anything about educational? This zoo visit is all about bragging rights and Facebook photos.

Photos: Fortuna and The Daily Mail

Bad Parent: Did German Polar Bear Eat Her Baby?

Kate Tuttle — Thu, 11 Dec 2008 13:30:00 GMT

Vera, a popular mama bear in the Nuremberg Zoo, is suspected of having eaten one of a pair of twins she gave birth to last month. Additionally, it seems that she may not be caring properly for the surviving twin.

This bear is also the mother of Flocke, a celebrity bear cub -- this year's Knut! -- whom she rejected after giving birth to last year. Flocke (that's her in the picture), who was hand-raised after her mother stopped feeding or caring for her, is on track to follow Knut into the post-adorable celebrity phase (overweight, "addicted to humans," suffering from zoochosis) over the next few years.

Now Nuremberg officials are watching the live video feed to see whether they need to step in and rescue yet another of Vera's children. As for the dead newborn, nobody has seen its body (which Vera had been nudging around and observing), leading experts to conclude that she probably ate it.

So, did she do it? Ummm, probably. Despite all the anthropomorphizing in the world, cute snow white panda bears are really just wild animals, as prone to eating their young as any other beast (remember your pet hamster as a child?). Still, what (if anything) does this tell us about zoos in general? About polar bears as celebrities in Germany?

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News from Darkest Peru: Paddington Turns 50

JeanneSager — Mon, 13 Oct 2008 21:05:00 GMT

The bear of very little brain may get more press, but I've always had a soft spot in my heart for another bear of English origins. Pad dingt on bear is still looking smart in his little blue duffle and jaunty felt hat – despite today's celebration of his 50th birthday.

Tales of the bear with an especial affinity for sticky marmalade sandwiches have been translated into 40 languages and sold more than 35 million copies since it was first published by Harper Collins on October 13, 1958. So why do I still feel like he's tromping in his wellies far behind Pooh?

Born in Darkest Peru and raised by his Aunt Lucy after being orphaned as a very little bear, Paddington falls into the lives of the Brown family of London much like he does any of his goofy predicaments. He's sitting with a suitcase and a tag that reads "please look after this bear," when the Browns stumble over him on their way to collect their daughter from the train. Thus ensconcsed in their London home, he proceeds to show he's made of much sterner stuff than Pooh - getting into the types of troubles the other, more wussy, bear would think, think, think about and never get around to. As Paddington says, "Things happen to me. I'm that sort of bear."

They share a taste for sweets and the resulting stout form, and like the other bear whose moniker starts with "P," Paddington has also been immortalized on the small screen. But without currying the favor of the Disney magic wand, the ever-polite Paddington has kept a stiff upper lip in the manner of all things British and let Pooh get all the play.

But with news late last fall that a producer of Harry Potter (you know, that other British import that's made movie magic stateside) is working on a Paddington Bear movie, there's hope that some day all American kids will be looking after the bear as he waddles into middle age.

Image: PaddingtonBear.com

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Middle School Teacher Rides Bike Into Bear

SunnyChanel — Thu, 11 Sep 2008 17:11:00 GMT

Middle school teacher Jim Litz better think twice before discounting a student’s claim of “the dog ate my homework”, because he knows that stranger things can happen, and they have happened to him. On his way to work in Missoula, Montana this week ,via his trusty red bicycle, he was peddling along at a clip of about 25 miles an hour and “he came upon a rise and spotted a black bear about 10 feet in front of him. He didn't have time to stop and T-boned the bruin. He tumbled over the handlebars, his helmet hit the bear's back and the two went cartwheeling down the road. The bear rolled over Litz's head, cracking his helmet, and scratched his back before scampering up a hill above the road.”

Litz was then taken to the hospital and is expected to make a speedy recover and should be able to go back to class on Friday. Now that will make a great story for show and tell.

(via AP)

Bear Eats Child (almost)

Cole Gamble — Wed, 05 Mar 2008 14:30:00 GMT

I think this photo kinda speaks for itself but I have to say a couple of things:

First, is that kid a stone-cold customer or what? Big ol’ bear up in his grill and he’s not even flinching. What do you want to bet the next picture is of the kid flipping the bear off, making kissy faces, rubbing his ass on the glass or mouthing the words “suck it, bear!” Of course, maybe the kid isn’t a bad ass. Maybe the photo was fired at the precise right moment before the “shit your pants” signal reached the kid’s brain.

Second, Even though that bear is not kidding around and he’d make that kid a Triscuit if the thick glass were not in place, don’t you have to admit this photo is adorable?

Photo: www.dailymail.co.uk

The Bear That Almost Ate a Girl Scout

Karen Murphy — Fri, 08 Jun 2007 15:02:00 GMT

About an hour north of where I live are the lovely Poconos, a mountainish land of champagne-glass hot tubs and huge round beds (so I hear) and also some good-enough skiing and snow tubing, and trees and stuff. Oh, and bears.

Which is what a pack of Girl Scouts found trying to remove one of their toothsome tween members from a tent recently where they were camping at (no laughing) Camp Mosey Wood. The eleven-year-old managed to grab a tent pole and slide out of her sleeping bag. After a lot of screaming (girls in groups are good at that), the adults in the party hustled everyone into bear-free vehicles and then made a command decision outlawing tents for the duration.

The story could have ended a lot differently, in which case would you still be thinking about those Poconos hot tubs? I thought not.