Remembering Hope

REMEMBERING HOPE

(If you wish to watch the videos below you can shut the music off by scrolling to the bottom and turning the music player off)

I remember my sister telling me about a site she had found back in early January of 2010. The North American Bear Center was streaming a live cam in a bear den. A female black bear named "Lily" was thought to be pregnant and this was an attempt to watch a live birth of a black bear in the wild which has never been witnessed before.

As an outdoors-man, this immediately caught my interest. Yes, I may be a hunter, but I am extremely interested in wildlife, especially those who live in the mountains. I have witnessed first-hand black bears roaming the woods here in Western Pennsylvania. I've seen them up close and personal in their territory many times. They, along with the white-tailed deer amaze me. Both are incredible animals and watching how they live, survive and make use of the forest is an amazing thing to observe.

I began to watch the live cam about two weeks before Lily had her first cub. While waiting, I read all the information on the site about Dr Lynn Rogers and the 40 plus years of his research. I was amazed at the work both he and his assistant Sue Mansfield were doing. They were getting information about bears which had never been published before. I thought I knew a lot about black bears and came to realize that I really didn't. I've learned so much from their research.

On January 22, 2010, I, along with over a million people witnessed something that had never been seen before. "Hope" was born. Soon we heard that now famous "humming" sound that a cub makes while nursing. I remember vividly the first time I saw her. So small, so cute!

Over the next two months or so, we watched her grow. The relationship with Lily reminded me of the bonds I saw with my three litters and their mothers. Mother Nature is amazing. We watched as winter came to an end how Lily would leave the den for short periods. Hope would cry, but we cold see her coordination improving and as time passed, how cute this little bear really was. Over 500 schools were showing this live cam daily to thousands of kids of all ages. So many people were learning so much about an animal so feared. They really are not the vicious beasts we've been told about.

Viewer-ship was increasing, stories of this live cam reached all over the world and eventually there were over 100,000 followers joining the NABC Facebook Page and millions watching the live cam. So many people were learning with me, how incredible these animals really are.

We saw Lily finally leave the den. It was kind of sad in a way because the live cam became quite addicting. But what followed was awesome. With Lily's GPS collar, the researchers were able to keep hour by hour tabs on Lily and Hope. We saw videos and pictures of them almost daily. Watching Hope grow was so fascinating.

Then in late April 2010 the unthinkable happened. While Hope was sleeping up in a tree, Lily climbed down and left. She did not return. Hope was alone and unseen for almost a week. Dr Rogers was able to find Lily from her GPS signal but she was alone. Her milk supply seemed to be drying up. What was going on? How could this happen? Was Hope still alive and if so how could she be?

A man and his wife who had a summer home in the area were leaving to go home one afternoon, and saw a small bear cub run across a dirt road and go up a tree. They called the Bear Center. Sue and Doc rushed out there to investigate. It was Hope!! They lured her down a tree with a long branch with syrup and honey on the end and finally Dr Rogers grabbed her and put her in a dog crate. A tough decision had to me made. What should they do now? The choices were few. 1. Take her to a bear rehab center. 2. Raise her at the enclosure at the Bear Center. 3. Try to reunite her and Lily. They chose option 3.

The next day, Lily was back in the part of her territory where she had left Hope. It was time to attempt the reunification. What would happen? Would Lily accept her? Would she kill her? Nobody knew what to expect. What did happen was truly a miracle:

All seemed well for a while. Lily seemed to be getting her milk back and Hope seemed to be thriving. But it happened again...Lily left. What was causing this? How and Why? Nobody knew. Once again decisions had to be made but first Hope had to be found if she was even alive still. They searched for her with no luck. Lily was making no effort to look for her and was wondering several miles out of her territory. Several "trail cams" were set up in the area that Lily and Hope last used. Finally, she was seen:

That white pine in the background was where Hope and Lily bedded many times. The decision was made to not try to capture her again and attempt to supplement her with food and formula. The food station was set up by the white pine and was being used daily. Doc and Sue spent many hours by the food station and saw Hope on a regular basis. Gordon Buchanan, here from Scotland to do a documentary about the Bear Center for the BBC assisted. Hope was doing well, as this second period alone was to last for 5 weeks.

After 5 weeks Lily and Hope crossed paths again. Another reunification occurred but was not witnessed. They were back together again, and this time permanently. We watched them feed together, sleep together, play together, and eventually in late October of 2010, den together. Lily was acting like she was in heat around both times she left Hope. How could this be. The female bear goes into heat every two years not yearly. It seems now that with only one cub nursing, Lily's hormones went out of wack and she did indeed go into heat again. During the second seperation, she was spotted with several males. That would not have happened if she had not gone into heat.

There was a possibility that Lily was again pregnant. If she was, this would be a mixed-age litter and that has never been witnessed before. How would Hope react? Would she bond with the cubs? Would Lily send her off on her own after they emerged from the den as she would normally do at a year and a half of age? Lots of questions, no answers.

On January 21, 2011, we all found out for sure that Lily indeed was pregnant. She gave birth to two cubs. "Jason" and "Faith" could be heard squealing and could soon be seen on the den cam. I was able to watch their births as well and it was simply awesome. Hope stayed out of the way as Lily gave birth and everything went well. We all wondered how Hope would be with the cubs and it turned out she was simply awesome.

We watched them grow and eventually leave the den. Both little cubs were doing well and Hope was great with them. They played, cuddled and bonded so well. Not long after they left the den, we faced another sad experience. Little Jason died. It was determined that he was bitten by another animal causing an infection in his brain. The bite mark on his head appeared to be from a coyote. The size of the tooth mark was too small to have been from Hope or Lily.

Hope and her little sister bonded tightly. They played together and as we got into summer, it seemed Faith spent more time at Hope's side than Lily's. So many questions about a mixed aged litter were being answered. As we got past late spring, the time when yearling cubs are sent off to be on their own, it became apparent that Hope was going to get an extra year with her mother, and sister as well. After all she'd been through the first year, she certainly deserved this!

Maybe there was a reason for all of this. When Jason died, what would have happened if Hope had not been around? With Hope nursing too, Lily had to produce a lot of milk which she did with no problem. But if Hope wasn't there, would we have seen a repeat of last year? Would Lily have gone into heat again and left Faith as she did Hope last summer? It's hard to say but Hope just may have saved Faith's life by just being around still.

Our little bear family did well throughout the summer. Food was abundant and all three bears were doing very well. Hope and Faith were growing rapidly. They were close, they were healthy and come October, would all be in great shape for their long winter sleep. The only thing to worry about at this point was what was to come in Early September. The Minnesota Bear Hunting Season. 7 LONG weeks were just around the corner.

Between mid and late August, four attempts were made to get a GPS Collar with ribbons on Hope. Lily's collar had the ribbons already added. Hope was able to shed the collar each of the four times. She just wasn't receptive to having something on her neck. Now with her being much larger than Faith, there was serious concern with the hunting season beginning. All we could do was wait it out, hope she stuck close to Lily and remained safe.

On September 16, 2011, while Lily and Faith rested about a hundred yards away (according to GPS readings) a hungry Hope wondered off a short distance to feed. She found a hunters bait stand and began to eat. That hunters bullet ended her life. I hope to God it was quick and she didn't suffer.

This little bear taught hundreds of thousands of people so very much during her short life. I'm not ashamed to admit I was, and still am crushed by her sudden death. There was so much more to learn from her. We watched her being born, watched her grow up, watched her survive a period of time away from her mother where she beat all the odds, and we came to love her. There was something very special about this animal, she was a gift. Thank you little one for making me smile so many times, and thousands of others as well. Thank you for giving science so much new information. You left a warm spot in my heart, I'll never forget that......RIP Hope!!

One of the last pictures taken of Hope

The last video (6 days before her death)

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**On the evening of September 17, 2011, according to GPS readings, Lily left Faith for a short period of time. She made a huge circle around her territory covering several miles. She was running, sometimes at full speed. The researchers feel there is only one explanation for this..........she was looking for Hope.

From January of 2010 through September 16 of 2011, a beautiful light shined brightly in the Northwoods.  Her name was Hope.  Her light no longer shines, there is a sad, sudden quietness in the Northwoods, but her spirit will live there forever.  Thank you Hope.

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NABC Daily Updates:  http://www.bearstudy.org/website/research/daily-updates.html