Hybrid Bear Shot By Hunter in Great White North.

DNA tests have recently confirmed that a bear killed by a hunter is half grizzly and half polar bear. Avid hunter Jim Martell was on a $45k guided polar bear hunt on Banks Island when they encountered the strange animal. The hunts Iniut guide, Roger Kuptana, was the first to note that the bear wasn't normal. It had an indented face, a humped back, long claws, and eyes ringed in black. The outfitters hosting the hunt sent the carcass out for DNA testing to save Martell a potential thousand dollar fine and year in jail for killing the wrong kind of animal. As it turned out, the creature had a polar bear mother and grizzly bear father. Although rumors of polar-grizzly hybrids have circulated for some time, this is the first time a confirmed specimen has been encountered in the wild.

There are a great number of Interspecific Hybrids, including Mules, Zedonks, Wolphins, Camas, and the infamous Liger. But rarely do they occur naturally in the wild. Perhaps we are seeing the beginnings of a new Darwinian pressure. With increased migration, and shrinking habitats more animals may be shopping outside their species on date night. There is a mystery ape population in the Congo that appear to be abnormally large Chimpanzees with a unique culture. Many theorize that this might be a Chimpanzee-Gorilla hybrid. If it's hybrid parentage turns out to be true, the Chimpilla will replace the Liger as my favorite. I'm all for hybrids, be they the products of a genetics lab or the rising stars of the animal kingdom. Convergence and diversity are not always separate animals.



"Assault weapons have gotten a lot of bad press lately, but they're manufactured for a reason: to take out today's modern super animals, such as the flying squirrel, and the electric eel." - Lenny