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Fall 2023

Bears

Bear at WSU Bear Center taking a bath
Spring 2022

Bear videos and stories

Watch the the bears at the Washington State University Bear Research, Education, and Conservation Center, a one-of-a-kind facility providing information and understanding for bear conservation.

The bears also provide invaluable insight into human health because of their ability to regulate insulin and avoid muscle atrophy during hibernation.

 

Watch the bears at the WSU Bear Center:

 

Bear Conservation and Research

 

Bears digging a den

 

October enrichment for the bears

 

A key to human heart disease could lie with hibernating grizzly bears

 

More photos and videos of the grizzlies at the WSU Bear Center

 

… » More …

Fall 2017

Bear watching

The headlines paint a dire picture: By the 2030s, global warming could completely melt Arctic sea ice, imperiling the 19 known polar bear populations that range across the United States, Canada, Russia, Greenland, and Norway.

Could, as some fear, the trend spell extinction for Ursus martimus?

For two of the country’s premiere polar bear researchers—wildlife biologists KARYN RODE ’99 MS, ’05 PhD, and DAVID C. DOUGLAS ’86 MS, both of whom work for the U.S. Geological Survey’s Alaska Science Center—the answer is a decided “No.”

But neither is the future rosy for the animals, according to Douglas, who uses satellite tracking to monitor their … » More …

Winter 2010

Video: WSU arboretum and wildlife conservation center groundbreaking ceremony

“It is impossible to imagine a world-class university without an arboretum. It reconnects you to the earth and is an important place for a university community to find peace and balance in a high-stress environment. Im particularly proud that this arboretum will be part of the legacy that my administration will leave for Washington State University, its faculty, students, alumni, and friends, and all those who value the joys of nature.”

—WSU President Elson S. Floyd

 

Phase 1 of the Washington State University Arboretum and Wildlife Conservation Center project celebrates the first peoples of the region and the striking Palouse prairie landscape … » More …

Winter 2010

An arboretum for WSU

Over the coming years, 170 acres east of Airport Road in Pullman will be transformed into an arboretum, which will include a new bear center, a biodiversity center, a gathering circle, and a series of walking trails and gardens.

The land fits neatly amidst the WSU Organic Farm, USDA research plots, and College of Veterinary Medicine facilities. While the project is still in its infancy, many pieces are falling into place to make it happen.

By mid-July, the first trails were visible, tiny paths of hot pink flags climbing up and around the hills. A grand opening is loosely planned for fall 2011, but … » More …

Spring 2008

A new life for Winnie

Though she’s only three, Winnie the grizzly bear has already seen some rough times. Her mother left her last year. And when hunger drove her into a Yellowstone campground, park service employees did their best to haze her and scare her off. Eventually she was trapped and moved miles away. But after she found her way back to the campgrounds—twice—she was carted off to a concrete den 600 miles from home.

As the newest, and wildest, member of the Bear Center at Washington State University, Winnie is struggling to adjust to a different life.

Winnie’s story started in the summer of 2006, when she was … » More …