Zookeepers baffled by bare bears at zoo in Leipzig

Zookeepers baffled by bare bears at zoo in Leipzig

www.news.com.au

YOU would have thought a fur coat would have been the ultimate bear necessity.
But not for unfortunate Dolores, who has lost all her body hair and has been left with just 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 although the animals do not seem to be suffering from any other affliction.

The bears normally have fluffy dark brown fur and wo

(visit the link for the full news article)

The rest of the article is at the link. There is another picture on the main page news.com.au, and seriously? It looks like what i would imagine a were wolf would look like. Maybe this is what people have been seeing and claiming are were wolves. Strangest thing is that they don't know why it is happening.

Cherry

www.news.com.au
(visit the link for the full news article)

[atsimg]http://files.abovetopsecret.com/images/member/bb70b094c476.jpg[/atsimg]

edit to add photo

[edit on 5/11/09 by CherryDuck]

There's photo now!! Someone check it out! Any vets on here want to take a guess at whats wrong with them/. Any one else seen this happen to animals?

I don't know but these two statements sound contradictory:

...although the animals do not seem to be suffering from any other affliction.

Instead they have developed nasty rashes and inflammations.

I'm not saying the following is what is the problem, being that it is so obvious you'd think the zookeepers and veterinarians would have picked up on it. But with the information provided, it sounds like Mange: Hair loss, inflammation, and rashes. I doubt it though because mange is pretty easy to test and catch.

Like the article mentioned, I guess it could also be a genetic defect but more information is needed. They say all female bears at the zoo are going through the same thing. If they are related, genetics sounds possible. If they are not related, it sounds like something commutable. But a communicable ailment doesn't make a lot of sense either if it is only occurring in the female bears. Unless it's a mix of genetics and disease that only impacts females.

Odd story for sure.

[edit on 11/5/2009 by AshleyD]

Animals have feelings also, it could be nerves or depression. It would seem that a good vet would have the same idea would come to his or her mind. After all, this poor animal did not have a choice but being held behind bars the rest of her life. Her crime was nothing other than being born a bear.

Tru

Hum, maybe they are next in line to rule the Earth. Didn't the same thing happen to the humon monkeys around the time they began to come down out of the trees (well most, some of them are still pretty hairy chimps thought, ha)? My guess would be nature is preparing them to take over once the humon vermin upon Earth have been eradicated and exterminated.

[edit on 5-11-2009 by Divinorumus]

reply to post by CherryDuck


I have seen this happen to ferrets more than once. A nice Austrian vet in Vermont told me it was an adrenal disease. My ferret, The Buhbus lost his fur every where except for his head. He looked just like the photo but more ferrity.
STH

These bears should be moved to a nudist colony as quickly as possible.

Poor critters...maybe its the stress of imprisonment thats causing this?
Although all bears in zoos would have the same thing maybe if that was the case.

They should recruit the local knitting circle to make the bears some outfits-it gets cold in Germany about now.

They look like the yau gai things from fallout3.

Poor bears

They look like giant mutated rats in the photo posted

I'm thinking Chemtrails... pure and simple. Loss of hair, neurological disturbances. Chemicals sprayed and falling on livestock, zoo animals and our food. Anything else showing symptoms?