One of the easiest, most personally gratifying, and earth-friendly projects we can undertake to combat excessive carbon dioxide in the atmosphere is to plant trees.

It’s one of the very few tools we have for removing CO2 from the atmosphere. And less CO2 means less global warming and better sea ice conditions for polar bears.

A single tree can help. A lot of trees can make a difference. 

Planting Trees for Polar Bears is a multi-dimensional program between a group of dedicated polar bear advocates. The goal is to plant 500,000 acres with trees. Learn more about the program.

 

Lend a Hand ... Sponsor a Bear through Free the Bears. Bears that need sponsors are in rescue and rehabilitation facilities in Cambodia, India, Laos, Thailand and Indonesia. 

There are different adoption levels for varying costs. The Find Your Soul Mate category of the new adoption program lets you name your sponsored bear while bestowing the majestic animal with dignity and respect. 100% of sponsorships go directly to the bears. Read more

 

 

Two sloth bear brothers rescued in India

On  November 16, two sloth bear brothers were shipped to India's Bear Rescue Center, with volunteers assisting from Free the Bears and Wildlife SOS. The bears are being treated for severe malnutrition and poor health after having lived for years in a small dark concrete room at a zoo. 

Their feet were raw and their bodies wracked with pain and emotional despair. They had not seen sunlight in years. Today the bears are spending entire days at the rescue center gazing at the sky and soaking up the sun.

Three cheers for the compassionate people who rescue bears!

 

Kermode Bear featured in National Geographic

In a moss-draped rainforest in British Columbia, towering red cedars live a thousand years, and black bears are born with white fur.

The August 2011 issue of National Geographic features incredible images from photographer Paul Nicklen in two important stories by Bruce Barcott: Spirit Bear: the wildest place in America and Pipeline Through Paradise.

Paul Nicklen and his colleagues from the International League of Conservation Photographers cover a proposed plan to build an oil pipeline through the Land of the Spirit Bear in Canada's Great Bear Rainforest in the August issue of National Geographic.

 

 

 

 

Got a story to tell about what you're doing to help bears? Defender s of Wildlife would like to hear it, and so would we at Ursa Freedom Project!  http://www.savebiogems.org/voices/

There are lots of goodies available for sale to raise money for the Bornean Sun Bear Conservation Centre online fundraising campaign. Check it out on Facebook, or contact UFP member Sherri Reese. She's heading up the great fundraiser!

Five endangered sloth bear cubs and two sub-adult bears were rescued recently in the wee hours of the morning in Bihar, India. Three traders trying to sell the bears were arrested, thanks to the combined work of Wildlife SOS and the Bihar police and forest department.  The five male bear cubs were between 3 - 5 weeks old and had been separated from their mothers, who were most probably killed by poachers to remove the cubs. The adult bears were being used as dancing bears in Nepal and were just smuggled back into India through Bihar. Both bears had a thick rope pierced through their muzzle and moved or "danced" when these ropes were pulled in response to the pain. Read more

Ursa Freedom Project is an independent project driven by people who are passionate about conserving bears and their habitat.

UFP mission
Ursa Freedom Project collaborates with others to give voice to the world’s bears through story and art so they may grow into a larger collective destiny with humans to heal their circumstances.

UFP focus
Six of the world’s eight bear species are threatened with extinction as a result of human activities. Even "least concern" species such as the brown bear are at risk of extirpation in certain countries. Many threats face each bear species, making strategies for local conservation necessary.

UFP strategy
UFP collaborates with organizations and individuals to assist on-the-ground conservation efforts in local communities. We enfold bears into story so their voice is heard and validated -- an act that allows bears to be received into culture and their lives transformed through acceptance. UFP advocates to conserve bears and their habitat and to free bears from persecution and exploitation by unleashing the power of knowledge and collective visualization to open hearts to understanding, wisdom, compassion and tolerance.

Story behind the name Ursa
Ursa Major (the Great Bear) is the third largest constellation in the sky. What is most familiar are the seven stars which make up the rump and tail of the constellation; we know them as the Big Dipper.

One Greek myth tells that the nymph Callisto, a servant of the hunter Artemis was made to bear a child by Zeus. Artemis banished Callisto for impurity.

Artemis gave birth to the child named Arcas. This made Zeus' wife Hera very jealous and, in revenge, Hera turned Callisto into a bear which ran away into the forest.

Arcas grew up to become a hunter. One day while he was hunting, the bear Callisto heard Arcas' voice and rushed to greet her son. Arcas, not knowing the bear was his mother, was about to kill her when Zeus intervened and sent both mother and son into the sky as the Greater and Lesser Bears.

Zeus grabbed them by their tails and flung them into the sky, and that is why these two bears have long tails.

Today, most of us need to use a lot of imagination to see the bear; however, cultures around the world have always turned to story to better understand the world and the role humans play in it. from starryskies.com

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