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Polar Bear pets sled dog
#1
Yes I did mean to say that a polar bear petted the head of a sled dog. You have to look at the video to believe it. It really happened. The bear seemed to really like petting the head of the dog.

http://news.google.ca/news/url?sr=1&ct2=...t=2&at=dt0

Can you believe it? I would have expected the bear to eat the dog. Maybe we misjudge polar bears. The dog wasn't so sure about it all. Smiley4
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Catherine

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#2
Oh how lovely! It's happened again. Quite a few years ago now (1999?) there was a big news item about a team of sled dogs and their friendship with a Polar Bear. They played together. The Polar bear was completely wild of course, and it was a moving and unusual thing to happen.

Here is another video I found which is remarkable...I am not sure if this is the same one I saw in 1999 or a more recent event:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JE-Nyt4Bmi8
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#3
I don't know how old your video is, but the dogs and bears seem to like each other.
I would have expected the bears to attack the dogs and the dogs to fear the bears. We underestimate animals sometimes. They really seem to like each other.
Maybe the arctic is a lonely place and even polar bears want company sometimes.
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Catherine

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#4
The actual story.

Following last weeks viral video of a Polar Bear petting a Dog in Churchill, Manitoba I figured it is only fair that I share with you the story that was missed. Though followed up by a more truthful story the primary video was promoted as a sweet and gentle one, but it wasn't. Have a read and see what actually happens and keep in mind that a dog at this farm did get eaten.

The video takes place at a farm owned by Brian Ladoon, a local dog owner who keeps his dogs chained up right in the path of the largest bear migration on earth. Nothing new there thats just how it works up north; however the worst part about it is that Brian not only feeds his dogs, but also the bears. In the 70s in fact the owner was taken to court for allegedly leaving food out for the bears and he openly said no I don't leave food out for them I feed them and that still goes on today.

As many of you know even in Black Bear country down south feeding wildlife spells a death sentence for the animal as they get addicted to food and therefor end up in the cities looking for more. Though same rules apply in Churchill, they are not enforced and even the Police go to the farm to enjoy watching the bears.

Annually the bears get removed from Brian's farm where they end up because of food. The worst part of all this is that it isn't done to benefit the bears, the dogs, anyone it is all made for profit. Brian charges between 80-120 for you to go on his land to photograph bears, depending on how much he likes you; Police of course don't pay anything. Once you enter his property the bears that are far away get chased up by a unchained dog, once up they notice Brain's truck (where there is probably food) and follow it up and down the short stretch of road. Notice how the bears only check the backs of truck and not any other car. This goes on all day so the bears never actually get the rest they need as they wait for the sea ice to form.

This is the true story, we observed this while we were in Churchill and you can to just have a look at our pictures and read the descriptions to see whats going on. All this being said doesn't mean we are against Churchill, we love it up there, but it is things like this that make people see the wrong side of Churchill; just because of one person.

Lets see if we can make this go as viral as the video, please share and thank you for listening,

Martin
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#5
I am glad you found that. I had just come across an article that expresses much the same concerns.

I did wonder about the dogs and the bears. The bears should consider the dogs a food source. I think they are smart enough to know that the dogs are brought food from the human and they get to share it.

http://news.google.ca/news/url?sr=1&ct2=...t=2&at=dt0

It is too easy to read into a video without the whole story.

Polar Bears are a serious predator. They eat large mammals and that could include humans. I think it is sad that he leaves his dogs chained up where the bears can kill them. The dogs are probably aware of that.
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Catherine

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#6
There is more on this story here:
http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/manitoba/p...-1.3855128
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#7
That puts a whole different perspective on it, LPC. What a terribly sad ending.

Humans make mistakes with Nature's ways.

One thing was a bit suspect regarding Ladoon's motives, and that was: "He told CBC News he takes tourists out to see the roadside attraction for a fee."

Leaving the dogs chained with no means of escape is also a huge risk, even if he's seen the Bears' apparent friendly behaviour. Things can change very quickly....as they obviously did.

Poor dog.
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#8
The guy is chaining his dogs there deliberately. He is deliberately feeding the polar bears to entice them in to profit from them. There is nothing nice about what is happening out there
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#9
The dogs certainly don't look comfortable with the situation. He is using his dogs as bait and the bears as a roadside attraction.
I just hope the bears don't end up in trouble because of this.

That poor dog. He was chained up and helpless with a giant predator prowling around looking for food. He wouldn't have stood a chance.
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Catherine

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#10
Polar Bears are hunters for live prey. They can't help that. That is what they are. Wild bears are not meant to be placated with gifts of food from humans and expected to be teddy bears thereafter, and fit into our ideas of how to view the world. Sure the bears were probably not interested in eating the dogs when they had their bellies full, but it really is a situation of human interference.

I am not saying there might have been genuine situations where bears played with dogs -no doubt when they were so glutted with food they didn't need to eat the dogs. But it would probably be a rare instance and to push that is foolish.

He was trying to create a tourist attraction by the sounds of it, and risking his dogs. No proper outdoorsman in that sort of environment would risk his dogs. At the very least, they are his most valuable asset and means of transport in inhospitable places.

I surely hope the bears don't suffer for this too. They have become accustomed now to seeing human habitation as a food source.
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