Paca and Tola

[lisa]

Hi Lisa T. There's no problem with these two not putting on enough weight 
I suppose the natural method of putting a male bear in with them, albeit of another race, for the experiment could be their rationale for testing their fertility and for making a future birth with a Cantabrian male more certain (?) but you should contact either info@osodeasturias.es or fapas@fapas.es to clarify this.

[Tilley]

Thanks Lisa, I've tried emailing  but have had no reply - will give them a call in the morning...!

[nick]

Used your photo Lisa, hope you don't mind

http://www.iberianature.com/spainblog/2007/11/23/paca-and-tola/

Nick

[lisa]

Not at all. (Cantabricusas  )
It's O.K. don't answer 

[Clive]

Lisa Tilley At the Olive press has written a piece about Paca and Tola.

http://www.theolivepress.es/2007/11/23/fun-loving-bears-desperately-seeking-mate/

I am very pleased that through Wildside Holidays and the iberianature forum people who would not normally find out about subjects like this are joining the learning curve.... It can only mean further awareness and support for the countryside and the wildlife that resides there...

Clive

[lisa]

Next week should see Paca and Tola moving to their new enclosure, along with the chosen male from Cabárceno safari park. (The recent revelation of the bear's ancestry has really given the green light for these possible pregnancies.) The bears will have their own separate areas with a common meeting ground in the middle and will be closely monitored. Visits are being restricted to small, guided numbers.

[nick]

Are they going to stay there for the rest of their lives? Or wil they be taken back to their old enclosure after rearing their cubs? -

[lisa]

No idea Nick but I should think that when the cubs are old enough, they're going to need two separate areas for P & T & any young bears when they're old enough to be on their own. Avoiding human contact so they (one?) can be released in the wild will be hard in this case I would have thought. The show must go on?
See you Sat. with my cooking head on to stop the cornflour going in!

[lisa]

Furaco, the chosen male for the fertility test of Paca and Tola, arrives at Proaza today. lavozdeaviles.es says that his enclosure is on the other side of the Senda del Oso and that the bears will be able to see and smell each other. Wish I could see that 
However, they also say;
"Descartada la posibilidad de acometer una inseminación artificial de 'Paca' y 'Tola', por la todavía escasa eficacia del método, los responsables de Cantabria y Asturias se decidieron por este macho con la esperanza de probar la fertilidad de las osas asturianas, de la raza parda cantábrica, y mantener la reserva genética en cautividad, a pesar de que 'Furaco' es un oso pardo del Pirineo."
He's not Pyrenean, of course, but from Eastern Europe.

[lisa]

Furaco shows what he's made of on teleasturias.com and Paca, of course, was the first to check out what a fine specimen of a bear he is 
Contrary to what's been written before, the bears are only separated by a fence. It looks likely to be about a month before they're allowed physical contact. I hope everything goes O.K. - he's huge!

[lisa]

More film of yesterday's events on 20minutos.es. I've been looking for a photo of him scratching his back on the tree but haven't come up with anything yet. Someone must have captured it.......

[lisa]

Confirmed from the horse's mouth, well one of them (Spanish anyone?);

"No, los descendientes de Tola y Paca, si los hay, no pueden ser liberados en el medio natural ya que serían osos no adaptados y genéticamente distintos de los que habitan en el Pirineo.
Furaco es genéticamente  desconocido. Pero la utilización de las posibles crías que tenga con Tola y Paca como van a ser para mantenerlas en cautividad no implica alteración alguna.   

Hay que dejar claro que este tema de la reproducción de Tola y Paca no tiene ninguna relación con la conservación de la población osera que vive en libertad."

This is the answer from Fapas to a question asking if any cubs born would be used in the reintroduction programme in the Pyrenees. They say the cubs couldn't be released because they'd be in human contact (Paca and Tola having to be closely monitored directly by vets) and also would be genetically distinct (Slovenian bears  ) Fapas point out that this project has nothing to do with the conservation of the Cantabrian bears in the wild.
 

[lisa]

Well, the three bears met yesterday, and everyone's fine  Surprisingly Tola was the one that showed the most interest......but she ran away.

[lisa]

Nick already has the latest on the goings-on in Proaza, except for one teensy weensy detail; the bear that came into season and mated with Furaco was Tola. We'll have to wait until she emerges from next winter's hibernation to see if the pairing was successful.

[lisa]

Well, Tola has emerged from her den alone so it's back to the drawing board...........the saga continues.