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Eighteen Bear Cubs Leave For Adult Life

September 23, 2002

This year the brown bear population inhabiting the forests in the vicinity of the town of Tver has been increased by eighteen more bears. The bear population grows up annually thanks to the effort undertaken by Valentin Pazhetnov, Doctor of Biology, and his family.

Since 1990 they have been returning back to the natural environment the bears which remained orphans as their mothers had killed in hunting or due to some other sorrowful circumstances. In most cases tiny bear cubs are brought to Valentin Pazhetnov by native inhabitants. The bear `kindergarten` was opened by Valentin Pazhetnov at home (village of Bubonitsy, Tver Region) where he, his wife Svetlana and son Sergey work. They return the animals to the natural environment (otherwise the animals are doomed to death) and also study the bears` habits and behavior. Within years they have collected unique materials on the bears` way of living.
      
A new-born bear is as small as a kitten but cries like a human baby. Bear cub nursing and bringing up is a special skill. The Pazhetnovs have learned to do that: they feed the animals with special mixtures every three hours day and night, bathe them and rub the belly - they do all the things the mother bear would do. Some time later the `small fry` grow up turning into charming youngsters which keep running, playing and messing about.
      
In spring the Pazhetnovs release young bears to the natural environment but in the paled territory thus protecting the cubs from predators and stray dogs. Each bear cub is marked with a yellow clip on the ear. The cubs get accustomed to living at liberty and start finding food by themselves, although the adoptive parents continue to feed them up till summer. The young bears pass through the hard school of life on their own: they learn to find edible plants and to avoid poisonous ones, to orientate themselves in the forest, to recognize scents and sounds. The mandatory condition is to avoid the animals getting used to the people. That is why only one or two individuals deal with the bears, the face of the person being hidden in a hood and complete silence being kept. If the bear cubs grow up `tamed`, this may result in a tragedy - a bear which feels no fear of people will come close to human habitation and get killed. The task of the researchers is to raise real wild animals.
      
After the animals get used to liberty, the biologists remove them to other regions. Most frequently the bears are set free in the forest reserve called `The Bryansk forest` or in the Central Forest Reserve. This year the young bears will become familiar with the forests of the Novgorod Region.
      
Observing the bear cubs at large, the researchers find out which peculiarities of their behavior are predetermined genetically, and which can be mastered only with the mother`s assistance. As it has proved, the cubs are quite capable of learning to find food and recognize edible plants without assistance. It has turned out that they are also capable of building a den independently. Once real frosts started and the first snow fell down, Pazhetnov`s wards started to look for a winter refuge location. When building up the den, the young bears acted as grown-up ones, although nobody had taught them how to do that. To make certain of that the researcher had to stand a long 24-hour duty in a tent not far from the place the bears cubs had chosen for hibernation.
      
It is difficult to return something or somebody to nature - it is much easier to take from nature. However, the in-toed hosts of the Russian forests deserve living where they belong. Pazhetnov`s `kindergarten` has already counted more than 70 `graduates`.

Informnauka (Informscience) Agency