Polar bear image by Joanna Patterson taken in Svalbard while on expedition with Chris Morgan
You’ll be amazed at this video clip of polar bears and dogs
Recently, a few friends sent some images of polar bears playing with dogs to me asking if they were for real. The images were from Churchill, Manitoba (where I guided polar bear viewing trips for 9 years, and where we are helping to support research on the effects of climate change). It’s a very unusual situation where polar bears have “befriended” dogs, and it is definitely very real. I just found this video footage which shows the same thing – the moving images are even more compelling than the stills. What’s more amazing is that these bears have not eaten in around 4 months as they are waiting for the Hudson Bay to freeze up. This allows access to their normal diet of seal meat, but in the meantime they must be patient.
Just goes to show that there is room for friendship among unlikely pals sometimes.
Watch the clip here – you’ll be amazed at these gentle giants.
One of the Andean bears from the study site in Peru (Photo courtesy of Robyn Appleton and Javier Vallejos)
Check out this footage that Jose Vallejos captured on a camera we loaned to him in Peru a week ago (click here). It shows one of the rarest things you’ll ever see in the world of wildlife – a mother Andean bear and cub scaling a vertical, sheer, cliff wall! I’ve spent a lot of time over the years in Andean bear habitat (mostly in Ecuador), and I have never seen one in the wild. We have a golden opportunity to bring this species and it’s habitat to the attention of the world through this project, which is overseen by bear biologist Robyn Appleton. Jose and Javier Vallejos are both field staff on the Andean bear project that we are supporting and filming in Peru. We gave them a small HD camera to capture moments like this when we couldn’t do it ourselves! We’re heading to Peru just as soon as we have all of the necessary funds – if you can help – please click here.
Chris Morgan and BEARTREK, as featured on the new Arai website
Thanks so much to Arai motorcycle helmet company, and especially Rick Menapace. Not only did they provide free helmets to BEARTREK, but now they have kindly profiled me and our campaign on their brand new website as their very first featured rider! Check out the site for yourself here: Arai.
