There is a world somewhere between reality and fiction. Although ignored by many, it is very real and so are those living in it. This forum is about the natural world. Here, wild animals will be heard and respected. The forum offers a glimpse into an unknown world as well as a room with a view on the present and the future. Anyone able to speak on behalf of those living in the emerald forest and the deep blue sea is invited to join.
Tracking Gobi Grizzlies.
Counting backward from the ages of the bears he had collared, Harry calculated that at least nine had been born between 1999 and 2009. Our recent capture of big, healthy, six-year-old Altan brought the number to ten. Thus, the Project had put two major sources of anxiety to rest for the moment: The mazaalai continued to meet and mingle genes. And they were still making babies that survived to become young adults, replacing members of the population lost to old age or other causes of death.
Ursus arctos gobiensus showed no obvious sign of giving in. Its numbers appeared to have stayed more or less constant for the past four decades. Thus, the main reason for the biologists, for the Mongolian government, and for anybody who cared about these creatures had become this: What will it take to help the world's rarest bears increase enough to spread outward, reoccupy former range, and gain a firm grip on the future instead of just tenaciously hanging on in their shrunken home?