Story Archives of 'Bears'

The polar bear has become one of the most captivating symbols of anti-global warming efforts. When Time Magazine published a special report on global warming, editors put a polar bear on the cover.

Reporter Nathanael Johnson went on a mission to find out more about the adopted poster-animal for the effects of global warming. He talked to some real live polar bears, a cute-ologist, and a Sierra Club rep about branding strategy.

You can listen to Nathanael Johnson's story and post a review of it at the Public Radio Exchange (registration required)

(Photo by Oxfam International)

The New Hampshire naturalist Ben Kilham is the subject of a new National Geographic documentary.

It's entitled “A Man Among Bears” and airs this Saturday on the National Geographic channel.

NHPR Correspondent Sean Hurley recently spoke with Kilham and has this story.

One of the good things about living in a rural state like New Hampshire is having the wilderness only a stone's throw away. But that also means learning to share the land with animals. Some New Hampshire towns are getting used to seeing Black Bears wandering around. We'll talk about ways to keep our shaggy neighbors at bay, without ruining their standard of living. Shay's guests are Ben Kilham and Andrew Timmons. Ben is a naturalist who works with Black Bears and studies their behavior. He's author of the Among The Bears: Raising Orphan Cubs in the Wild. Andrew is the bear project leader for the New Hampshire Fish and Game Department.

Bear hunting season begins tomorrow (Wednesday) in New Hampshire.
It began Monday in Maine, but that three month long hunt could be the last of its kind.
As in New Hampshire, Maine allows baiting and hounds to lure and kill black bears.
But Maine is the only state in the nation that allows a third way of hunting bears as well....trapping.
State biologists and hunting guides say the techniques are essential for controlling Maine's bear population.
But critics call the practices cruel, unsporting, and unnecessary.
And a referendum this Fall will decide their fate as Maine Public Radio's Susan Chisholm reports.

There may be nobody in the world who knows more about bear behavior than Ben Kilham. He gained that knowledge first-hand by studying bears in the wild. He also raises orphaned bear cubs and teaches them the skills they would usually learn from their parents.