Ever wonder what a bear looks like bald? Well, prepare to have your curiosity satisfied. The three female spectacled bears at the Leipzig Zoo are all in varying stages of baldness. No one's sure why these bears--which come from South America--and many other bears across Europe are losing their hair. They're also suffering from itchiness, so their keepers are rubbing them down with ointments to soothe their skin. How would you like that job? Rubbing down balding, cranky lady bears?
It's got to be something to do with climate or diet, and a task force of vets has been assembled to address the problem. I imagine the bear rubbers are looking forward to getting an answer and a solution sooner than later.
Thanks to Mary for the article, who got this submission past my rigorous screening process just like her little brothers, Joe and Luke. Additional thanks to Ida, Lee Ann, and Gail, all of whom sent in the same story. Great minds think alike.
Nov 6, 2009
Rubbing Down Bears
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44 comments:
My poor teddy!!!
Well, I did always want to know what a bear's tail and butt look like without all the hair. The second photo answers this question quite well, and I thank you for that. Also, their claws look a whole lot scarier without all the padding around them.
Looks like someone already rubbed them bear.
The bear in that second picture looks like it has Isaac Asimov mutton-chops.
I swear, the first one looked like a Photoshopped image of a ferret head on an elephant... I did a double take!
looks like a rather bad case of mange. i hope they've tested the bears for it.
"Rubbed them bear." hahahahaha
Looks like the real chupacabra to me!
Awww, makes me want to knit them a sweater.
Fuzzy wuzzy WAS a bear
Fuzzy wuzzy had no hair
Fuzzy wuzzy wasn't fuzzy
Oh my gosh he wasn't, was he!!!
it looks like a werewolf.
- lynn
Very sad. But Fuzzy Wuzzy song seems eerily prophetic now.
they remind me of a character from the neverending story or something like that
eeek. scary!
Kind of as ugly as us humans with fur. A living gargoyle? That was my first thought. Cool find. Poor creatures.
Your blog is so original : )
Those poor bears (and the poor people who have to rub on the medicine ... it's like "Dirty Jobs" to the extreme)
Congratulations on being BLOG OF NOTE.
You deserve it!
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www.BANCODEIMAGENESGRATUITAS.com
Poor bears :-( It does look like mange. Surely they have tested for such a common condition.
Oh my, at least they are being taken care of. In the wild, they'd probably would have past on ..
Could the environmental change that these bears are experiencing in Europe be similar to the environmental change that caused early hominids in our ancestral line to shed their fur/hair for the final time?
wow, that's just out of expectation.
cool pictures. what happen with that bear anyway?
I think I wanna be a bear...
If you're a bear, you get to hibernate. You do nothing for six months. I could deal with that.
Before you hibernate, you're supposed to eat until you can't eat any more. I could deal with that too.
If you're a bear, you birth your children (who are the size of walnuts) while you're sleeping and wake to partially grown, but cuddly cubs. I could definitely deal with that.
If you're a mama bear, everyone knows you mean business. You swat anyone who bothers your cubs. I could deal with that.
If you're a bear, your mate expects you to wake up growling. He expects that you will have hairy legs and excess body fat.
Yup, I wanna be a bear.
Wow......
and, LOL! the word verification says "cutte" hahah...
---
http://apps.facebook.com/pewpewbangbang/
naked bears= socially awkward
Poor little things - they are gorgeous!
Awwwwww...poor bears!
Love love love this blog!
Congrats on Blog of Note :)
Becki xx
Looks scary..
Like those chupacabra photos that recently got popular because of another weird-looking dead animal found.
disgusting
Ewww.. lol~ xDD
looks like alien to me.. poor bear
Wow! Now that is ugly.
I thought I was a looking at genetic engineering gone way wrong.
I feel bad for the little guys.
oh my god! that looks crazy! and kind of scary.. or maybe like a malformed chihuahua? ;)
http://mmsydney.blogspot.com
That resembles a condition that one of my cats had. It was treated with Advantage, a topical flea treatment - and the condition cleared up, and she had her fur back within about a month or so.
nice pictures......
Aww hope they get better soon.
that is so scary
This blog is soooooooooo awesome!!!
That fuzzy wuzzy song really applies here.
Check out my blog `whatsyouropiniononmyopinion.blogspot.com`
See ya!
Oh great, ever since I got to England ...I've been dry and itchy,my hair has turned orange...
I say ...it's the water.
WTH should I do before I look like those poor bears?
I think we've solved the whole Montauk monster debate, and similar such stories.
There's a similarly afflicted bear at the granby zoo near montreal. The keepers told me it was allergies, but they hadn't had any luck in controlling them.
The poor guy was quite itchy too.
I don't think it is funny or cool. Those bears are really pooooooor! I am very sorry for them. Nothing to laugh at.
weird...
This is terribly sad, but I must admit my first thought was "it rubs the lotion on its body".
Holy crap, who knew that bald bears would look more terrifying that those with thick, healthy coats?
It reminds me of those creepy dog things from Willow...
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