EDITED FROM TODAY'S ELY UPDATE.....

Today, the DNR ordered us to turn over the tissue samples we had placed in formalin jars. A veterinarian from the University of Minnesota did further necropsy work on Jason’s remains at 3:00 PM today. Complete test results on the tissue samples will take time, but we hope to get a preliminary report on the early findings sooner. We have not been guaranteed copies of the report, but as the professionals studying this bear we assume we will be afforded that consideration. This all could be viewed as a good thing that would save us hundreds of dollars in lab fees if they do a thorough necropsy report. We hope the report will provide us all with some much-needed answers.

We are conducting the most thorough long-term study of black bear behavior and ecology ever done. Our research methods open the door to obtaining carcasses that previously would be lost. This gives us a new ability to learn causes of natural death. We want to think the DNR would be proud to work cooperatively with us. We also want to think the DNR would respect our work enough to give protection to the few bears in our intensive study.

We saw that some of you have called or emailed the DNR to express your exasperation. Totally understandable. However, please keep in mind that we are trying to build cooperation with the DNR. We, too, have been frustrated by the way they have handled this, but we are hopeful that all will be made right in the end.

It seems that Rogers plans to have the cub's body mounted for display at the center. Here is part of his update.....


We are planning to have Jason mounted by one of Minnesota’s top taxidermists. We want to honor Jason’s life in a way that will continue educating people about bears. He represents the challenges some cubs face for survival. His cuteness at two and a half months and 4 pounds should help endear bears to people and may help save the live

eiguoc has posted the preliminary report on the cam thread, and I am putting edited version here for discussion purposes....

Preliminary Report
<edited>
We received the DNR veterinarian’s preliminary report on Jason today. It said the left knee was swollen to three times the size of the right knee. If poor Jason had an injured knee for awhile, it could explain his apparent lack of coordination and slower development while being the same size as Faith. Maybe he was just as well developed as Faith but had a hurt knee. If that’s true, no wonder he didn’t want to climb as high in trees as Faith or follow Lily as readily. No wonder he would hang back and cry when the others went off.

Jason had a number of bruises that the veterinarian attributed to bites. We don’t want to over-interpret this, but we can imagine him hanging back on the 0.42 mile trip on Friday, April 8th, and being picked up. Could that cause the bruising? One bite was across the head. We’ll know more when the University of Minnesota Veterinary Diagnostic Laboratory completes their tests on tissue samples.


Unfortunately this track started long ago.....I don't know of any bear biologists that expected there would be a successful outcome to a multigenerational den. There are REASONS they don't work. The yearling absolutely ought not be nursing.....her development in foraging skills of course has been hampered as she's had ready meals all winter.

I continue to be angry, and oh so sad, that this man is allowed to do what he does. I have a female and cub that I have been watching since october and NEVER have I seen them nursing. The cub 15 mos old and within a month the female will separate herself from the cub.....(kick out of nest so to speak) and get herself "ready" to go mate again, unencumbered with a cub. This is the normal track of the LA black bear. The American black bears in Ely have the same biological clock....

I look forward to reading more results of the necropsy from DNR. It will make no difference of course to the cub that has died. We are certainly learning how humans can affect wildlife. What we DO about that which we learn, is of course up to the individual.

4 black bears put down after mauled B.C. woman found dead

VANCOUVER — Investigators say they may have killed the black bear responsible for mauling a woman who was found dead on a remote property outside Lillooet, B.C.

Conservation officer Rod Olsen said a total of four black bears have been killed and are under examination for human remains since the woman's body was discovered Thursday night.

Officers are optimistic that the bear involved in the woman's death is one of them, he said.

"It could be the right one . . . hopefully we have it," Olsen said of one bear caught in the "wild area" around the woman's house Saturday.

Lillooet is about 250 kilometres northeast of Vancouver.

The Stl'atl'imx Tribal Service, a community-based policing body in the area, responded to a report Thursday evening that the woman had been missing and arrived at her property to find bloodied clothing strewn down a steep hill beside the house.

RCMP arrived with their canine unit at 6 p.m. and found the woman's mauled, partly eaten body about 100 metres from the house.

Read more: http://www.theprovince.com/technology/b ... z1R3yceo00

This is an update to the previous post.

Autopsy confirms black bear killed B.C. woman

Date: Tuesday Jul. 5, 2011 8:08 PM ET

The British Columbia Coroners Service confirmed Tuesday that an elderly woman was killed by a black bear not far from her home near Lillooet late last month.

The victim, 72-year-old Bernice Evelyn Adolph, was a highly respected elder in the Xaxli'p First Nations community, about 170 km west of Kamloops. Her body was found on June 30 by a police dog about 200 metres from her cabin.

Officials said evidence collected at the scene, as well as the autopsy findings, prove that a black bear was responsible for Adolph's death.

Friends and relatives said she complained last week about an aggressive bear trying to get into her home.

Conservation officer Rod Olsen told The Canadian Press that the four bears were healthy and showed no signs of being sick or malnourished. He says one of the bears was killed just metres away from where the body was found, while the others were killed within a four-kilometre radius.

More:
http://www.ctv.ca/CTVNews/TopStories/20 ... no-110705/

Final update to the above two posts.

DNA tests confirm killer black bear is dead: B.C. conservation officers

LILLOOET, B.C. - DNA tests have confirmed that a black bear that killed a B.C. woman near her rural cabin last month was among several bears shot in the area after her body was found.

The B.C. Conservation Officer Service announced Thursday that saliva found on the clothing of 72-year-old Bernice Evelyn Adolph matches a bear shot near her Lillooet, B.C., home July 9.

Chief Insp. Lance Sundquist said the bear was a male between six and eight years old and weighed about 90 kilograms.

"It was in good condition ... They did not observe any abnormalities or apparent health issues with the animal," Sundquist said.

A necropsy by conservation officers did not indicate what may have caused the animal to attack.

"Again, these incidents are very, very infrequent. At times bears do act in a predatory manner," Sundquist said.

Link to story: http://home.mytelus.com/telusen/portal/ ... /VG365.xml

Hunting season for bears has opened in MN and the bear center is posting daily information about the bears which have been collared and bedecked with flourescent ribbons in the hope of discouraging hunters from killing them for their trophy!
It seems today there is a lot of concern about the multigenerational family .... the elder cub apparently is STILL NURSING!!! AND has not allowed them to put a collar on her that will stay more than 4 hours before she takes it off. So they have successfully collared the female and her newest cub stays nearby, but not the 21 month old cub. In the wilderness, this older bear would have become independent of her parent 3-4mos ago, but instead is still nursing.

As of today, they do not know where she is, but she is not with her parent and sibling.

of course, my hope for her is that she has declared her own independence and has gone off on her own to figure out where she might den for the winter......

It has now been reported that the cub was indeed killed by a hunter. What a tragedy!!!