Jul 7

I guess bears can throw rocks, I stand corrected

I want to thank Mike T. for sending this to me. The article is titled “Grizzly bear shatters barrier at Minnesota Zoo”

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APPLE VALLEY, Minn. –  A grizzly bear exhibit at the Minnesota Zoo is temporarily closed after one of the bears picked up a basketball-sized rock and shattered a barrier.

Startled visitors stood on the other side as the bear repeatedly slammed the rock into a pane of glass Monday morning.

Zoo animal collections manager Tony Fisher tells the Minneapolis Star Tribune the five-layer pane stayed in place “like a windshield.” No one was hurt.

The grizzlies were called back inside. The area will be closed until a temporary fix can be made ahead of a permanent pane being installed.

Fisher isn’t sure which of the three bears is responsible for busting one of pane’s five layers. But he suspects it was Kenai, a nearly full-grown male who is “usually the clown out there.”

The exhibit — home to three grizzlies that were orphaned in Alaska — is temporarily closed until the zoo can place a new bear-proof barrier in front of the broken panel.

“We thought we had all the rocks out of their exhibit but one of them dug it up somewhere,” Fisher said.

The zoo plans to custom-order a replacement glass piece, which could take up to several weeks, according to Fisher. The 2 ½-inch-thick glass is similar to a car windshield and is designed to absorb impact.

 

 

Source:http://www.foxnews.com/us/2015/07/07/grizzly-bear-shatters-barrier-at-minnesota-zoo/

9 Responses to “I guess bears can throw rocks, I stand corrected”

  1. Kent C

    I would love to see a video of this bear in action! …….I am having a real problem imagining how a bear could accurately throw a large rock!

  2. Dave T

    No way did it throw the rock like a person would throw a rock. My guess is it picked it up with both front paws and slammed it against the glass or just swatted it with one paw from the ground. They don’t have the ability to grasp using their paws. Fingers and a thumb come in real handy for this.

  3. Jan W

    I agree, Dave. The article says the bear was slamming the rock repeatedly into the glass, which differs from throwing the rock. Interesting none the less. Thanks for sharing!

    • Derek G

      True…. It didn’t throw the rock. It only shows that bears will play around with rocks from time to time but nothing like witnesses say when they have sticks and big rocks being thrown at them from a distance in connection with Sasquatch. It is amazing though how powerful animals can be. Something like the gorilla that smashed the window at the zoo…. I don’t thing a Mr. Olympia roided to the teeth could display that explosive power. I just can’t imagine if you increased a gorilla’s size to 10, 11, or even 12 foot tall with the same body proportions like a Sasquatch. Think of the power those things would have!

  4. Trey

    I honestly don’t know how you’d hold a sasquatch without having it at least partially sedated all the time which in turn is going to eventually kill it. If a bear can do this just “clowning around,” think what a full grown sasquatch with intent and smarts could do.

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