Aspects Of This Are Hard To Bear

January 20, 2011 6:50 AM

Lily the bear is giving birth and is going under the web cam again. The web cam and the American Bear Center are the creation of Lynn Rogers. Dr. Rogers work has his critics: "I highly disagree with the way Lynn Rogers has decided to pimp out these bears in order to pay off HIS debt. Instead of studying bears, I believe he has successfully 'studied' humans and has found the trick to manipulating them. "
posted by Xurando (10 comments total)

Every good scientist should be one part B.F. Skinner and one part Three 6 Mafia.
posted by saturday_morning at 7:01 AM on January 20, 2011 [3 favorites]

I would definitely pay to see a bear pimped out.
posted by DU at 7:07 AM on January 20, 2011

Every good scientist should be one part B.F. Skinner and one part Three 6 Mafia.

I have no idea what you mean by this, but I like the way it sounds.
posted by empath at 7:15 AM on January 20, 2011 [3 favorites]

Wildlife photographer Gordon Buchanan spent some time with Lily and Lynn in The Bear Family and Me for the BBC. It's a cute overload, but well worth the time if you can still find it online.
posted by londonmark at 7:21 AM on January 20, 2011

QUICK, SOMEBODY NOTIFY COLBERT!
posted by ZenMasterThis at 7:52 AM on January 20, 2011

I live in Ely where Lynn Rogers is based, and from a local perspective the whole Hope and Lily business has been a mixed bag. It's brought a lot of money to town and the region (beaucoup bucks for a nearby state park), but few of those who are really into these particular bears seem to give much of a shit about bears in general or actual habitat, management, etc. They *love* these specific bears. For the wolves and bears up here, there are plenty of people who hate 'em, plently who love 'em, and not nearly enough who understand them. I think that's where a lot of scientists get irked with Rogers; he attracts a lot of attention, but mostly to himself and 'his' bears. That being said, he has done some really good research and has learned a lot about the day-to-day existence of the black bears through his methods.
posted by Makwa at 8:40 AM on January 20, 2011

For some reason I picture Pimpbot5000 turning out the Masturbating Bear.
posted by jabberjaw at 8:54 AM on January 20, 2011

Did they even ask her if she wanted her spaghetti to be on the internet?
posted by Evilspork at 11:11 AM on January 20, 2011

Every good scientist should be one part B.F. Skinner and one part Three 6 Mafia.

I have no idea what you mean by this, but I like the way it sounds.

This is what I had in mind. Reference fail.
posted by saturday_morning at 2:38 PM on January 20, 2011

In a world where we casually turn over gigantic, nation sized hunks of wilderness to industry and don't seem to give a damn if once common animals like the grizzly are going extinct, the publicity that Lynn Rogers is bringing to nature and the animal world is a blessing. Yes, his diversionary feeding is creating an artificial situation down there in Ely, with more and larger bears than the environment can support, but if all the Internet hoopla and documentaries bring home the message that we are not alone on this planet to the suburban masses, then it's worth it. Most people live in isolation from nature today, but Rogers has brought a few honest to goodness wild animals to the attention of the public and shown us that they are individual creatures who live and feel, and not abstractions. That's a lesson we need to learn over and over, because we forget it so easily.
posted by Kevin Street at 2:55 PM on January 20, 2011