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.
My poor teddy!!!
ReplyDeleteWell, 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.
ReplyDeleteLooks like someone already rubbed them bear.
ReplyDeleteThe bear in that second picture looks like it has Isaac Asimov mutton-chops.
ReplyDeleteI swear, the first one looked like a Photoshopped image of a ferret head on an elephant... I did a double take!
ReplyDeletelooks like a rather bad case of mange. i hope they've tested the bears for it.
ReplyDelete"Rubbed them bear." hahahahaha
ReplyDeleteLooks like the real chupacabra to me!
Awww, makes me want to knit them a sweater.
ReplyDeleteFuzzy wuzzy WAS a bear
ReplyDeleteFuzzy wuzzy had no hair
Fuzzy wuzzy wasn't fuzzy
Oh my gosh he wasn't, was he!!!
it looks like a werewolf.
ReplyDelete- lynn
Very sad. But Fuzzy Wuzzy song seems eerily prophetic now.
ReplyDeletethey remind me of a character from the neverending story or something like that
ReplyDeleteeeek. scary!
ReplyDeleteKind of as ugly as us humans with fur. A living gargoyle? That was my first thought. Cool find. Poor creatures.
ReplyDeleteYour blog is so original : )
ReplyDeleteThose 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.
ReplyDeleteYou deserve it!
Enjoy this great moment and please let us know how do you feel.
Cheers and best regards from Canada.
Jose Luis Avila Herrera
www.BANCODEIMAGENESGRATUITAS.com
Poor bears :-( It does look like mange. Surely they have tested for such a common condition.
ReplyDeleteOh my, at least they are being taken care of. In the wild, they'd probably would have past on ..
ReplyDeleteCould 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?
ReplyDeletewow, that's just out of expectation.
ReplyDeletecool pictures. what happen with that bear anyway?
I think I wanna be a bear...
ReplyDeleteIf 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......
ReplyDeleteand, LOL! the word verification says "cutte" hahah...
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http://apps.facebook.com/pewpewbangbang/
naked bears= socially awkward
ReplyDeletePoor little things - they are gorgeous!
ReplyDeleteAwwwwww...poor bears!
ReplyDeleteLove love love this blog!
ReplyDeleteCongrats on Blog of Note :)
Becki xx
Looks scary..
ReplyDeleteLike those chupacabra photos that recently got popular because of another weird-looking dead animal found.
disgusting
ReplyDeleteEwww.. lol~ xDD
ReplyDeletelooks like alien to me.. poor bear
ReplyDeleteWow! Now that is ugly.
ReplyDeleteI 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? ;)
ReplyDeletehttp://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.
ReplyDeletenice pictures......
ReplyDeleteAww hope they get better soon.
ReplyDeletethat is so scary
ReplyDeleteThis blog is soooooooooo awesome!!!
ReplyDeleteThat 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...
ReplyDeleteI 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.
ReplyDeleteThere'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.
ReplyDeleteThe 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.
ReplyDeleteweird...
ReplyDeleteThis is terribly sad, but I must admit my first thought was "it rubs the lotion on its body".
ReplyDeleteHoly crap, who knew that bald bears would look more terrifying that those with thick, healthy coats?
ReplyDeleteIt reminds me of those creepy dog things from Willow...