Visitors to Alaska's Denali National Park this summer may be able to catch a glimpse of something you don't see every day: a three-pawed grizzly bear.
A picture of the bear shows it to be missing about half of its right front leg.
"We call him Tri-pawed," park biologist Pat Owen told the Fairbanks Daily News-Miner. "He kind of hops around."
The bear, the first Owen has seen missing a paw in 23 years with the Park Service, was first spotted in the park last year, when the wound was still bloody, she told the paper. She wondered at that time whether the injury would prevent the bear from getting food, digging its winter den or defending itself.
But it seems to have done just fine, she said.
One person at the park even saw the bear leap a highway guardrail, Owen told the Daily News-Miner.
"They said he looked very agile. I don't think he has any trouble getting around," she was quoted as saying.
Owen said park officials don't know how the bear was injured, but did not think it was from a trap because the wound was a clean cut.
The Park Service won't track the bear and won't do anything special to help it, she said. While the grizzly is listed as a threatened species in the lower 48 states, there are about 30,000 grizzlies in Alaska, according to the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.
"For now, we'll let him do his thing and see what happens," Owen told the Daily News-Miner. But she said that if the grizzly is still around when visitor season opens on May 20, the park may post signs so rangers won't have to repeatedly answer the same questions about it.
A rare species of gorillas was captured on one of four video cameras set up in Cameroon’s Kagwene Gorilla Sanctuary, according to the Wildlife Conservation Society.
Cross River gorillas are said to be the world’s rarest gorillas, with only about 250 still alive.
“This video gives us all a spectacular view into the hidden world of one of our closest relatives, which is in dire need of our help to survive,” Steve Sanderson, president of the Wildlife Conservation Society, said in an online statement.
Cross River gorillas are also the world’s most shy gorillas, at least around researchers. They don’t seem bothered by cameras though.
Footage from one camera shows several Cross River gorillas walking in the forest.
One male silverback appears to be showing off, researchers say. He beats his chest and appears to run toward the camera. Another gorilla takes a break and leans against a tree. One gorilla seems to be missing a hand.
“Cross River gorillas occur in very low densities across their entire range, so the appearance of a possible snare injury is a reminder that continued law enforcement efforts are needed to prevent further injuries to gorillas in the sanctuary,” said Dr. Liz Macfie, gorilla coordinator for WCS’s Species Program.
The Kagwene Gorilla Sanctuary was established by the government of Cameroon in 2008 to protect the endangered gorillas. It evolved out of the “Gorilla Guardian” community network, created by the WCS to give gorillas a better chance to survive in unprotected forest sites in Cameroon.
Kagwene is the only site where daily monitoring of Cross River gorilla movements takes place, WCS says.
Two dolphins at a Swiss theme park died after ingesting a heroin substitute around the same time as a weekend rave at the park last November, according to reports from Switzerland.
A toxicology report from a forensics institute in St. Gallen, Switzerland, showed tests found traces of the heroin substitute buprenorphine in the dolphins' urine, according to a report in London's Daily Mail online, citing Swiss media reports.
The dolphins died within five days of each other in November, after the area near their pool in the Connyland marine park had been rented out for a weekend rave, according to the reports.
Cornelis van Elk, a Dutch marine biologist, said the drugs turn off a part of the dolphins' brains which tells them when to surface for air.
Connyland keeper Nadja Gasser told local media how one of the dolphins, named Chelmers, died, according to the Daily Mail.
"He was drifting under the water and was clearly in trouble and so we jumped into the water.
"We tried to hold him. He was shaking all over and was foaming at the mouth.
"Eventually we got him out of the water. His tongue was hanging out. He could hardly breathe.
"He was given adrenalin, but it didn't help.
"After an hour the dolphin died."
In a report in the Daily Mail shortly after the rave, wildlife experts said noise from the event could have stressed the animals' immune systems and led to the death of the first dolphin, Shadow.
Today is the day for the 138th annual Run for the Roses. The race is more than mint juleps, elaborate hats and the most exciting two minutes in sports. The Kentucky Derby boasts legends and stars, human and equine alike. You've Gotta Watch a few of the professionals involved in one of the most watched horse races of the year. We've collected videos profiling a top trainer, a jockey making a post-recovery comeback and the stud farm that welcomes the champions after they've won the race.
Horse trainer Michael Matz will always be associated with one horse, 2006 Kentucky winner Barbaro.
CNN takes a closer look at Venezuelan jockey Ramon Dominguez, just days before he races in the Kentucky Derby.
Winning Post gets rare access to Darley Stud in Kentucky to find out more about the business of elite horse breeding.
A very indulgent guide to Louisville
Photos: The best Derby hats
Why the 'Run for the Roses' is so special
There are some men and women who don't fear danger or even risking their lives at work. For some, the adrenaline rush of pushing themselves to the edge keeps their jobs interesting and rewarding. CNN.com has collected video of some of these risk-takers putting their lives on the line. Watch as an alligator hunter, firefighter and window washer are caught in precarious positions that will put a chill up your spine.
Texas officials say the state needs more alligator hunters to provide his or her services.
A life and death moment for Michigan fighters caught on tape, as a roof collapsed under them. WXYZ reports.
A Seattle man is safe on the ground after hanging from a building. KOMO reports.
An invasion of giant cannibal shrimp into America's coastal waters appears to be getting worse.
Researchers from the U.S. Geological Survey and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration reported Thursday that sightings of the massive Asian tiger shrimp, which can eat their smaller cousins, were 10 times higher in 2011 than in 2010.
“And they are probably even more prevalent than reports suggest, because the more fisherman and other locals become accustomed to seeing them, the less likely they are to report them,” said Pam Fuller, a USGS biologist.
The shrimp, which can grow to 13 inches long, are native to Asian and Australian waters and have been reported in coastal waters from North Carolina to Texas.
They can be consumed by humans.
"They're supposed to be very good. But they can get very large, sorta like lobsters," Fuller said.
While they may make good eatin' for people, it's the eating the giant shrimp do themselves that worries scientists.
The world's only known all-white male killer whale has been spotted in the Pacific Ocean off Russia, scientists announced Monday.
The orca, dubbed "Iceberg" by the scientists, was spotted swimming with a pod of 12 others. Iceberg has a 6.5-foot-high dorsal fin and is at least 16 years old, according to a blog post by Erich Hoyt, co-director of the Far East Russia Orca Project.
Check out a photo gallery of albino creatures
The pod was spotted by scientists from universities in Moscow and St. Petersburg in the waters around the Commander Islands off the Kamchatka Peninsula. The area is part of a marine reserve.
Few bonds are stronger than the one between a dog and its master. In fact, the second most popular video last week was a piece by CNN's Jeanne Moos that shows just that. It got us thinking about some of our other favorite videos showing just how devoted man's best friend can be. You've Gotta Watch these loyal pets.
Caught on camera: A loyal dog stays by dead companion amid traffic. CNN's Jeanne Moos reports.
While family and friends and a dog mourn the death of Navy SEAL Jon Tumilson.
A dog mourns his owner's death months after he died.
South African championship bodyboarder David Lilienfeld, 20, was killed by a great white shark Thursday in Kogel Bay near Cape Town as he caught waves with his brother, according to local news reports.
A shark estimated to be between 13 and 16 feet long bit off Lilienfeld's right leg, the reports said.
Witnesses saw the attack from the rocks overlooking the bay, which is part of the larger False Bay.
One of them was Lucille Bester, who said she saw the shark about 20 to 30 yards from Lilienfeld and others in the water but was too far away to catch their attention, according to a report from the Cape Argus on the website Independent Online.
"The next thing we saw the shark come from under one of the guys and grab him. The shark shook him and then let him go. The surfer was screaming – it was terrible!" Bester is quoted as saying.
“Then it took him again. And that was it. It took him under. The first time it took him, there wasn’t any blood. But the second time there was," Bester told the Cape Argus.
Fellow surfer Mat Marais saw the attack from the beach, according to the report.
Russia took a big step Tuesday to try to save the Amur leopard, the world's most endangered cat, with just 40 believed left in the wild.
The country is establishing a new national park in Russia's Far East that encompasses about 60% of the endangered cat's habitat and all of its breeding areas, according to a statement from the World Wildlife Fund announcing the park. The organization has been pushing for establishment of the Land of the Leopard National Park since 2001.
“Amur leopards are literally teetering on the brink of extinction,” Sybille Klenzendorf, head of the WWF’s species program, said in a statement. “With the establishment of Land of the Leopard National Park, in conjunction with other conservation efforts, we can now start to focus on how to begin bringing them back.”
The cats are also known as the Far East leopard, the Manchurian leopard or the Korean leopard. They live in the temperate forests in Russia's Far East between Vladivostok and the border with China and endure extreme winters with the help of pelts that triple in length during the cold months, according to the WWF's website on the leopards.
The leopards have a life span of 10 to 15 years in the wild. Large males can weigh up to 165 pounds, with the average male topping out at about 100 pounds. Females are about 95 pounds at their largest, according to the WWF.
The 650,000-acre park will include sites for ecotourism as well as protected areas, according to the WWF statement. The Russian government is spending about $16.6 million for its development.
Ten Amur, or Siberian, tigers, also an endangered species, are also believed to live in the park, according to the WWF. The tiger species also once numbered about 40 individuals in the wild, but the population has recovered to 450 individuals today with preservation efforts, giving hope to the leopard plans, according to the WWF.
Editor's note: This post is part of the Overheard on CNN.com series, a regular feature that examines interesting comments and thought-provoking conversations posted by the community.
The following three stories are all a bit - or a lot - bizarre, but they've gotten a really interesting reader response. Check out the comments from readers.
Pandas have a reputation for being picky maters with a narrow window of opportunity. Conservationists in Scotland were hoping panda pals Sweetie and Sunshine would take their courtship to the next level, but alas, nothing came of it. Readers had lots of suggestions to improve the process.
"Throw a bottle of wine, a pair of cuffs and a copy of 'Fifty Shades of Grey' in the cage, that should get her going," said NorCalMojo.
Some suggested that pandas need to mate if they want to survive, and if they can't mate, we humans need to help them along. "Oh, just get the turkey baster already," wrote commenter Paul. CNN.com's Elizabeth Landau responded to the following reader's comment.
Harry: "Either artificially impregnate the female panda or let them go extinct. If they only have a three-day-a-year window for reproduction then it's pretty clear that they won't survive as a species with humans around. So either we save it ourselves or let it go bye-bye.
elandau: "A number of readers asked about artificial insemination in pandas. This is a common practice for captive pandas, veterinarian Copper Aitken-Palmer tells us. For instance, every baby panda born at Zoo Atlanta has been the result of artificial insemination, and most groups with giant pandas in the United States, Europe and China participate in assisted reproduction techniques."
Is the panda beyond help? FULL POST
Editor's Note: This post is a recap of the top five videos on CNN.com from the past week. So in case you didn't catch our best videos during the week, here is your chance to see what you missed.
The most watched video on CNN.com this week was the surveillance video of George Zimmerman in handcuffs after the Trayvon Martin shooting. Following as the second most popular video was a firsthand account of the erratic Jet Blue pilot who was subdued by passengers. Rounding out the top five are a heart-warming reunion between a soldier and an excited dog, a teen signing sensation, and finally, an open mic mishap from President Obama. Check out the videos below and see what everyone else was watching this week on CNN.com.
Police surveillance video shows George Zimmerman arriving at the police department in handcuffs the night of shooting.
A JetBlue passenger describes the incident that caused a flight to be diverted.
A dog can't contain himself after seeing his owner come home from Afghanistan.
Jonathan Antoine's booming opera voice leaves judges on "Britain's Got Talent" pronouncing him the next Pavarotti.
An open mic catches President Obama seeking help from Russia's outgoing president for NATO's missile defense.
Follow us on Twitter: @CNNVideo
Editor's note: This post is part of the Overheard on CNN.com series, a regular feature that examines interesting comments and thought-provoking conversations posted by the community.
Discussion about the franchise of "The Hunger Games," particularly its "bucking" of stereotypes, has led to passionate debating about killing for food on CNN's Eatocracy blog. People also talked about the movie, which comes out Friday, March 23, so if you've got an opinion, let us know what you think. You can also watch the cast of the movie answer iReporters' questions.
'The Hunger Games' bucks hunter stereotypes
Reaction to the story has pit hunters against vegetarians.
Vegetarian: "Nobody seems to really catch the point. It's the lack of compassion that's the bottom line. How can you enjoy an activity that is about killing? And the B.S. about it being clean and fast; 'so they don't suffer' is absurd. They always suffer. Just admit that you don't care, and in fact, may enjoy the power. Be honest.
Hunter: "The deer I shot this year was a clean kill through the heart. It ran on adrenaline for a few yards before it dropped. There were several other opportunities I had to shoot many other deer this year and chose not to because it would have been beyond my capability and would have likely caused suffering. But I chose not to. It is one of the tenants we learned in our hunter education course: Respect the animals . Did I mention that I donated the meat to Hunters for the Hungry–a 5013c charity that provides hundreds of thousands of pounds of meat to the poor in Virginia? You should read about how corporate farms treat their animals before you make generalizations on the entire hunting population of this country. Further, I bet you also don't know that hunting licensing fees fund state conservation efforts for all those beautiful state parks you enjoy."
Another person was disgusted by the whole idea of "The Hunger Games." FULL POST
If you're easily grossed out or squeamish by the mere mention of words like poop, poo or dung, you've officially been warned. Today's Gotta Watch is all about that and it's inspired by a Chinese businessman whose livelihood thrives on crap. The thought of willingly consuming this excrement probably hasn't crossed your mind a whole lot, but there are people who choose to offer up quite a bit of money for it. Would you pay to consume something made with poop? Sound off below.
Check out this video to see how panda poo tea is made and find out why people will pay $200 per cup.
You've gotta watch this video to find out how coffee is made from exotic cat poop.
Editor's Note: This post is a recap of the top five videos on CNN.com from the past week. So in case you didn't catch our best videos during the week, here is your chance to see what you missed.
The top videos on CNN.com this week featured a jaws-like shark swarm, a new high-tech Dreamliner, the story of a mother's dramatic reunion and some horrifying video of torture and death in Syria as the uprising there reaches the one year mark. Click below to see the videos that impacted so many others this week.
Sharks off the coast of Australia go on a feeding frenzy. Australia's Network Ten reports.
CNN's Arwa Damon reports on torture captured on video carried out allegedly by Syrian soldiers.
In Syria, a rescue operation to retrieve bodies of a massacred family turns up a child who lived. Arwa Damon reports.
Dr. Drew talks to Auboni Champion-Morin, whose son was found after being kidnapped 8 years ago.
Lizzie O'Leary reports on whether the new Boeing 787 is everything it's cracked up to be.
Japan's whaling fleet was headed home from the southern ocean after ending its annual Antarctic hunt with only a third of its expected catch, news reports from Japan said Friday.
The hunt ended three days ago with a catch of 266 minke whales and one fin whale, officials from Japan's Fisheries Agency said, according to one report from Australia's ABC news online.
The Sea Shephed Society, which sent a fleet of vessels to the southern ocean to block the hunt, proclaimed victory on its website.
"Operation Divine Wind is over! The Japanese whalers are going home!" the Sea Shepherd headline read.
"There are hundreds of whales swimming free in the Southern Ocean Whale Sanctuary that would now be dead if we had not been down there for the last three months. That makes us very happy indeed," Sea Shepherd's Paul Watson is quoted as saying on the organization's website.
News of the Japanese whaling fleet's withdrawal comes four days after the Institute of Cetacean Research, which oversees the Japanese whaling program, reported a confrontation between the Japanese ships and Sea Shepherd's ship Bob Barker. The Bob Barker fired more than 40 flares and aimed a "high-powered" laser beam at the Japanese ships for more than 50 minutes, the institute said in a news release.
Watson said that with the high-seas showdown, "the whaling season was effectively over for the season."
Japan hunts whales every year despite a worldwide moratorium on whaling, utilizing a loophole in the law that allows for killing the mammals for scientific research.
Sea Shepherd said it would be back to block the Japanese fleet if it returns this year.
“If the Japanese whalers return, Sea Shepherd will return. We are committed to the defense of the Southern Ocean Whale Sanctuary,” Watson said on the website. “No matter how long it takes, no matter how risky or expensive. The word 'sanctuary' actually means something to us and that something is worth fighting for.”
Japan hands over whaling activists to Australia
In 2011, CNN.com went on a never-before-seen journey through Alaska during the Iditarod. A rookie Iditarod racer, 36-year-old teacher Angie Taggart, agreed to strap Go-Pro cameras to her sled and forehead and record her two weeks on the trail.
After training herself and her dogs for years, Angie had a jittery start, filled with anxiety and tears for the 1,150 miles that lay ahead of her.
Angie had to quickly get get her bearings, because she soon faced the biggest challenge of the race, the infamous Dalzell Gorge, where the trail drops hundreds of feet in only two miles.
The weather was always a concern for Angie, so when she and her dogs faced thick sheets of ice from one side of the trail to the other, she was unsure if she could get them across.
Nearing the finish, Angie and her dogs got bad directions and ended up going the wrong way.
Taggart is not racing in this year’s Iditarod, but she’s spent the past year raising and training her dogs to race on Jan Steve’s team. Taggart will be helping out on the trail, at checkpoints Nikolai and Nome. She said that nine of her 12 dogs will be in the race this year. And next year? "Who knows," she told CNN. "Maybe next year I will mush under that arch once again." You can see more videos from the 2012 race on CNN.com/Video
Dr.Seuss was born on March 2, 1904. He gave us stories like "The Lorax," "The Cat in the Hat" and much more. Theodor Seuss Geisel wrote books for all ages, with whimsical characters, rhyming and new phrases. Between a Grinch who stole Christmas, Sneetches and Thneeds, Dr. Seuss had an impact that all generations can see. So whether its "Green Eggs and Ham" or "Horton Hears a Who" we want to wish a very happy 108th birthday to you!
TheTruffula trees come to life and roam free in this sneak peak of ‘The Lorax’ that’s playing in 3D.
One man found a collection of Dr. Seuss stories that are new. It’s amazing what a bit of sleuthing can do.
In 2004 you didn’t have to look far. Dr. Seuss finally got his Hollywood star.
You can also check out our education blog to learn about Read Across America Day, which takes place today.
A large owl from the eastern United States might pay for its intrusion into the West Coast if the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service has its way.
The service is considering an experiment in which it would kill or transfer some barred owls – sometimes referred to as the hoot owl, thanks to its call – as part of a plan to preserve the smaller northern spotted owl, the agency said in a report this week.
The U.S. government has listed the northern spotted owl, whose range includes British Columbia, Washington, Oregon and California, as a threatened species since 1990. Its population declined by 40% in the last 25 years, not only because of shrinking habitat, but also because the barred owl moved into the area starting in the late 1950s, the service says.
“Larger, more aggressive and more adaptable than the northern spotted owl, barred owls are known to displace spotted owls, disrupt their nesting and compete with them for food,” the service says on the Interior Department’s website. "Researchers have also observed instances of barred owls interbreeding with or killing spotted owls."
The service is now proposing killing or capturing barred owls in limited areas of the other owl’s range to see whether the removals allow the other owl’s population to bounce back.
The service is calling for one to 11 experiment sites in areas including national parks and recreation areas. Depending on the number of sites, the service would kill or transfer 257 to nearly 8,960 barred owls, according to the service’s environmental impact statement on the plan.
When Siku the polar bear cub was introduced to the public late last year, he quickly became an Internet sensation, with his own Web and Facebook pages. But with fame often comes responsibility, and officials at Denmark's Scandinavian Wildlife Park said Siku would have an important burden to shoulder.
"Siku is going to be an ambassador for polar bears, for global warming," park director Frank Vigh-Larsen said in December.
Siku's official first day on the job was Monday, International Polar Bear Day.
Beginning Monday, the wildlife park, in cooperation with Polar Bears International and explore.org, a philanthropic media organization, will show a daily live look-in at Siku from 9 a.m. to 11 a.m. ET at explore.org/siku and polarbearcam.com. You can also follow along again on Tuesday at CNN.com/live.
“We’re launching the Siku Cam on International Polar Bear Day, which is a day of action on climate change,” Robert Buchanan, president and CEO of Polar Bears International, said in a press release. “Our goal with the Siku Cam is for people to fall in love with this little cub and become inspired to reduce their carbon footprint to help save arctic sea ice.”
Siku is named after the environment of the polar bear, with siku being the most common word for sea ice in the Inuit language across the Arctic. The bears hunt on the sea ice, and as it disappears, so do opportunities for the bears to eat, the polar bear conservationists say.
The National Snow and Ice Data Center reports that the Arctic ice cover is near record lows, with the January 2012 Arctic ice cover the fourth lowest ever recorded.
"Based on the satellite record, before 2005 average January ice extent had never been lower than 14 million square kilometers (5.41 million square miles). January ice extent has now fallen below that mark six out of the last seven years," the NSIDC website says.
Many scientists blame global warming, fueled by carbon dioxide emissions, for the decline in sea ice. Polar Bears International says two-thirds of the estimated 20,000 to 25,000 polar bears in the wild could disappear by the middle of this century if carbon dioxide emissions are not cut.
“Our goal with the Siku Cam is to create awareness and inspire change,” Vigh-Larsen said in a press release. “And we are resolute that his image may only be used to advance those ends.”
Siku's secret to saving ice may be melting hearts. Check out these pictures and try not to smile.
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