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Pat Owen / National Park Service
This three-pawed bear was first spotted in Alaska's Denali National Park last year.
A three-pawed grizzly bear affectionately known as "Tripawed" is back in public view at Alaska's Denali National Park, after it was first spotted last year with a bloody stump where its right front foot had been.
"He's got a really funny gait," park biologist Pat Owen told the Fairbanks Daily News-Miner. "He kind of hops around."
At least so far, the bear doesn't seem to be a threat to park visitors. "It does not seem interested in camper food," park spokeswoman Kris Fister told msnbc.com. "It has only been observed doing normal bear things, i.e. digging for roots, etc."
Owen said it's not clear how the bear lost its paw, but the wound appears to have completely healed.
"It was a really clean cut, which leads part of me to believe it might not be a trap accident," she said. "We have no idea what happened."
The bear "showed up two weeks ago along the (park) highway," Owen added. "He's been very visible. A lot of people have seen him already."
The park considered euthanizing Tripawed last year, but Owen contacted some of her peers and was told bears missing appendages isn't that uncommon, so he was left alone.
Last weekend, the bear showed up at a vacant campground but officials won't be doing anything just yet to move him out.
"For now we'll let him do his thing and see what happens," Owen said. "He seems to get along just fine."
Tourist season officially begins on May 20, and if the bear is still around then the park will probably put up signs about the bear to avoid having to answer the same questions over and over, Owen said.
As for tracking the bear, Owen said "he’s pretty identifiable. I don’t think we need a radio collar to keep track of him."
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Look for the nearest donut shop selling a bear claw.
This bear if very fortunate...he has the SPCA to look after him, PETA, and now he has the ADA guys on his side...I feel sorry for the poor #astard who takes this guy down during season... Love this story, Go Bears...
pretty funny Chris
people who hunt for sport should be drafted into the hunger games
Along with people that make dumb comments that don't have anything to do with the story.
we agree with you D.Urbanski and your comment is not a dumb one either (looking at Basai whose commment fits that bill much more). I hope no harm comes to this creature and he lives long and happy.
he should run around bear footed...bare footed...
Plain bob: That was awful! Almost as bad as mine usually are. Should you feel ashamed of yourself? Or should you feel proud? I think the latter. Most people are bearly (oops! barely) able to understand a well-turned out pun. Yours is a bear-faced (darn! did it again.) (bare-faced) written pun, and those are harder to pull off (no pun intended) than the spoken ones. At least that is my opinion. Again, ARGH! Bravo!
Yea, there's no point killing them when you can eat them one part at a time.
Sorry, but a bear with a missing claw smells like human intervention. If it was a clean cut, then some type of tool was used. I doubt the bear was shopping at True Value Hardware.
It was probably something man-made but not likely a trap. Traps don't usually cut limbs off, they are made to capture and hold. Might have been some type of large machinery. Sometimes the bear gets the man, sometimes the man gets the bear.
Animals have been known to panic and gnaw off a trapped limb.
la . . . true, but I wouldn't expect it to look like a clean cut.
yupp... the smart ones only chew off the trapped limb...the stupid one's die legless...
Almost certainly the bear was improperly using power tools. Or possibly an industrial laser, like Goldfinger used on James Bond.
TOO BAD BEARS CAN'T TALK ; i'm sure the culprit would be behind bars right now.
he's look'n fer the man that shot his pa...yippee kiyaaa...
weareinbettershape...don't you mean behind BEARS?
POOR BEAR hope he lives a long life and wont be put down like so many other animals, He seems like a gentle bear and only trying to survive, leave him alone, please don't mess with him>
Why don't you go and try and pet that "gentle bear"?I'll stand here and video for a segment on Stupid Human Tricks. He is a wild bear that probably lost his paw in a trap or a fight.
He seems like a gentle bear? And how did you come up with that conclusion by looking at 1 photo? How can some people be so clueless. Honey, walk up to him and offer to shake his paw and see what happens.
"He seems like a gentle bear; I'm going to pat him"...Timothy Treadwell
All bears have different personalities. Sure, it's hard to tell if he's gentle by just looking at the photo, but that doesn't mean we need to line up like a bunch of rednecks and shoot him, either.
Hunters really are stupid.
Other news tells us that Ted Nugent runs a 'hunting ranch'. If he is taking parties of hunters on camping trips, this comment does not apply. But because the story used the word 'ranch' then I think that the story was referring to what is called canned hunting, but that story did not elucidate.
To make a long story short, people should know the truth of such matters, but these things stay covered up by news sources, for some reason. A canned hunt is in reality, setting up a cage animal (various species are used) so that when it's cage door is opened, and it comes out into a large pasture, it is shot by the so-called hunters. These hunters actually then pay thousands of dollars for their so-called trophies (body parts).
Sorry to have to write this, but if this is what Ted is doing, his fans should know it.
Yes, Diana, it's a gentle bear, pleas go feed it by hand to help it survive. Afterwards, I promise that I will submit your name as an entry into the Darwin Awards.
As long as he isn't a risk to park folk then just leave em alone.
What a drag for that bear. Really, that sucks.
It never ceases to amaze me how stoic animals can be when they are injured. I hope he manages to survive, but I do wonder how he will defend himself against larger bears. If he avoids them, it makes for a hell of a lonely existence.
Maybe someone should knock on Ted Nugent's door. It wouldn't be surprised if he had a new paw knocker. Creep.
Ted Nugget should be kidnapped by aliens and have the aliens do to him what he's been doing to all the innocent creatures of our planet.
Yes, because we know that Ted was too chicken-$#&! to go to VietNam where somebody might shoot back.
Should have known a story on bears would bring out the bunny hugging libbers
Should of known a story on bears would bring out the mindless!
I applaud the people at Denali for not doing anything too rash.
Let the Bear be a Bear.
GO BEARS DA BEARS
Should have known a story on bears would elicit political comments.
Next we'll be reading racial comments. "I'll bet it was a black bear."
Maybe instead of talking about whether or not the bear should be shot, the article could talk about what if anything could be done to give this bear a prosthetic arm. It would be a nice gesture.
A new show " The Bionic Bear " ! Can't they adapt the woods for the bear, under ''The Grizzlies with Disabilities Act " ?
That Bear was caught in a Trap despite what that Stupid Idiot says.He says the amputation is clean! Really and he got up close enough to say so. Bull Crap!
They considered killing it.I love the Stupidity here.Watch some Stupid Jackass with an eighth of a brain will shoot it.
That's the results of IDIOTS SETTING THEY'RE STUPID TRAPS.Who the hell do these idiot people think they're fooling!
Supposition and Hearsay. Aren't the imaginations of "what happened to the bear..." kind of a guessing game. The article stated that "no one saw what caused the limb to be missing." Why do humans always try to look at the dark side of things. You can "what if" all day and not even get close to the real reason. Just be thankful that the bear is ambulatory and able to fend/forage for himself. That is the blessing here.
Bears, and most all other animals we don’t manage to eradicate, will be here far longer than the planet virus that is Humans.
Animals always inspire me in situations like that. If I had a missing leg, you'd have to hear me bitch about it all the time. Animals just roll with it.
It is truly amazing how animals adapt. I have a 3 legged cat and he doesn't let it slow him down at all. He's the coolest little guy!! I really hope this bear does well and I hope no one feeds him.
hope no one runs him over on the road.
maybe that's how he lost his front leg.
heard he lost it on wall street... when the bear market crashed...
I'm sure Ted Nugent booked the first flight he could get to Alaska to exercise his 2nd Amendment rights.
Looks to me like he's missing more than his paw, but his entire leg upto his elbow. Reminds me of my three legged dog named Luckey who's also missing one eye and his gonads.
Luckey's a Republican?
Only when he's banging UR ole lady.
there's a lot to be said...about being a democratic dog...
nice one, alf
Thanks, Alf. You gave me an early giggle just before SNL.
Alaska Fish & Game has declared war on bears. They allow bears to be trapped, snared and shot from helicopters in some areas in an effort to increase moose and caribou for hunters. They also allow bear cubs and sows to be killed and cubs in the den. I suspect this bear wanders outside the Park and lost his leg to a trapper. If you think these policies are barbaric let Gov. Parnell know, he is a big supporter of these policies.
A point that may be missed is that any of the Fish and Game Department that are members of 'the ol' boys club' are benefiting the most from this elimination of protection laws. Our government at 'work' . . .
I think you arae thinking of wolves
After numerous hikers / campers / small children are attacked due to overpopulation of a predator such as a bear or wolf you anti hunting people will be the first to want to downsize the population. They are at the top of the animal food chain you know.
Sorry, Deb. Your food chain comment missed by a human sapiens.
Romney thought the paw looked gay.
romney just wanted to stroke it...with his bear hand...
Had a fraternity brother with the same nickname, for a different reason. Double entendre?
It would be interesting to dart this dude and examine the wound for distinctive scars. Maybe someone could figure out what it was that got him.
it's not important when the Alaska Fish & Game are systematically hunting, trapping and killing bears all over Alaska anyway. I shudder but wonder if the crazy Asians who are killing the rhinos and elephants in Africa and sharks in Japan are now cutting bear paws off too for aphrodisiacs. Backward Asian men are convinced tusks, horns and fins will somehow make their tiny little limp dicks bigger and more manly.
This three legged bear is obviously the result of former president Bush's lax policies on natural gas drilling in our protected wildlife areas.
This is the result of Obama care. The bear wanted a prostetic but he didn't qualify.
Oh, never mind. Hope everyone has a great weekend. Happy Mother's Day to all the Moms out there.
How far away is the nearest railroad? Not uncommon for bears to lose limbs to oncoming trains when surprised with too little time to move off or away from track before the train "arrives". This sort of incident has been reduced (almost wrote "cut down") by restricting when and where trains are allowed to dump human waste. Seems bears are attracted to more than just our garbage dumps and campgrounds.
There is a railroad within yards of this area. But the AK RR does no dump human nor any other waste along its path, but it is likely a moose or other animal had been killed by a moving train and the bear was feeding off of the kill, perhaps.
Thank you all of you writers for your entertaining comments and interesting "knowledge" of Alaska's laws and way of life. While I do not pretend to know all of our rules and regs up here, I certainly know more than the ignorant bunch writing in. And while I am not a hunter and never have been, I do comprehend hunting's purpose in many areas here in A;aska, not on for subsistance but also to allow the animal population to thrive and not overpopulate.
As far as this particular bear, I trust the Park Service will allow him to live and let be as long as he is not in danger of suffering and does not have to resort to scrounging off humans to survive.
That's the best theory I've read so far. A train cutting off the limb while he was feeding on a moose carcass makes a lot of sense.
I hope everyone leaves this guy alone and he has long life. Hope to God Sarah Palin isn't around with her.."drill baby drill and kill baby kill"
I guess Sarah is the only who hunts in Alaska. Thats according to the tard bloggers.
Tripawed could benefit by gaining a few dozen pounds. He is skinny, for a bear.
Let's not leave the bear alone for now, let's leave him/her alone forever. Warn the public and relocate him/her only if the bear becomes aggressive or the citizens feel threatened.
That bear is thin and won't make it through next winter.