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Who's taken my fur coat? Vets baffled by bald bears with mystery condition
You'd have thought a fur coat would have been the ultimate bear necessity.
But not for the unfortunate Dolores who has lost all her body hair and has just been left with a few tufts around her head.
Vets have been left baffled by the condition of the bespectacled bear, who lives at a zoo in Leipzig.
And Dolores isn't the only one. The sudden hair loss has affected all female bears at the zoo.
Some experts believe it could be due to a genetic defect though the animals do not seem to be suffering from any other affliction.
The bears, which originate from South America, normally have fluffy dark brown fur and would now be growing a thicker fur coat to keep warm during the winter.
But instead they have developed nasty rashes and inflammations on their skin.
Unfortunately for the bears, their lack of hair has been pulling in the crowds who want to see want to see the wrinkly animals.
Hopefully the zoo will be turning up the heat in their enclosure.
You'd have thought a fur coat would have been the ultimate bear necessity.
But not for the unfortunate Dolores who has lost all her body hair and has just been left with a few tufts around her head.
Vets have been left baffled by the condition of the bespectacled bear, who lives at a zoo in Leipzig.
And Dolores isn't the only one. The sudden hair loss has affected all female bears at the zoo.
Some experts believe it could be due to a genetic defect though the animals do not seem to be suffering from any other affliction.
The bears, which originate from South America, normally have fluffy dark brown fur and would now be growing a thicker fur coat to keep warm during the winter.
But instead they have developed nasty rashes and inflammations on their skin.
Unfortunately for the bears, their lack of hair has been pulling in the crowds who want to see want to see the wrinkly animals.
Hopefully the zoo will be turning up the heat in their enclosure.
And here's story #2:
Bear kills militants in Kashmir
By Altaf Hussain
BBC News, Srinagar
A bear killed two militants after discovering them in its den in Indian-administered Kashmir, police say.
Two other militants escaped, one of them badly wounded, after the attack in Kulgam district, south of Srinagar.
The militants had assault rifles but were taken by surprise - police found the remains of pudding they had made to eat when the bear attacked.
It is thought to be the first such incident since Muslim separatists took up arms against Indian rule in 1989.
Bodies found
The militants had made their hideout in a cave which was actually the bear's den, said police officer Farooq Ahmed.
The dead have been identified as Mohammad Amin alias Qaiser, and Bashir Ahmed alias Saifullah.
News of the attack emerged when their injured comrade went to a nearby village for treatment.
"Word spread in the village that Qaiser had been killed by the bear," another police officer said.
A joint party of the police and army personnel went into the forest and collected the bodies of the two militants.
Police say they also recovered two Kalashnikov assault rifles and some ammunition from the hideout.
Animal attacks
Wildlife experts say the conflict in Kashmir has actually resulted in an increase in the population of bears and leopards.
Following the outbreak of the insurgency people had to hand in their weapons to police - which put a halt to poaching.
As a result, there has been a greater incidence of man-animal conflict, say experts.
There have been many reports of bears and leopards killing or mauling humans in different parts of the Kashmir valley in recent years.
Three years ago, residents of Mandora village near the southern town of Tral, beat a black bear to death which had strayed into the village.
By Altaf Hussain
BBC News, Srinagar
A bear killed two militants after discovering them in its den in Indian-administered Kashmir, police say.
Two other militants escaped, one of them badly wounded, after the attack in Kulgam district, south of Srinagar.
The militants had assault rifles but were taken by surprise - police found the remains of pudding they had made to eat when the bear attacked.
It is thought to be the first such incident since Muslim separatists took up arms against Indian rule in 1989.
Bodies found
The militants had made their hideout in a cave which was actually the bear's den, said police officer Farooq Ahmed.
The dead have been identified as Mohammad Amin alias Qaiser, and Bashir Ahmed alias Saifullah.
News of the attack emerged when their injured comrade went to a nearby village for treatment.
"Word spread in the village that Qaiser had been killed by the bear," another police officer said.
A joint party of the police and army personnel went into the forest and collected the bodies of the two militants.
Police say they also recovered two Kalashnikov assault rifles and some ammunition from the hideout.
Animal attacks
Wildlife experts say the conflict in Kashmir has actually resulted in an increase in the population of bears and leopards.
Following the outbreak of the insurgency people had to hand in their weapons to police - which put a halt to poaching.
As a result, there has been a greater incidence of man-animal conflict, say experts.
There have been many reports of bears and leopards killing or mauling humans in different parts of the Kashmir valley in recent years.
Three years ago, residents of Mandora village near the southern town of Tral, beat a black bear to death which had strayed into the village.
Who wants to start off the gay jokes?
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