How to fix a bear house? Look:

Photo 1. A bear den as it was found after some local man broke it. Lazo district of Primorye.

Photo 2. With help of chainsaw giving the hole a sqearsome shape. In the left hand I hold a cut-off “frame” of a “window” - it will serve me at the next stage (below).

Photo 3. Finding a hollow falled down tree (of the same species) in forest. Apply our frame to it.

Photo 4. Along the frame, cutting off a new – and a really strong one – plug for our den.

Photo 5. Putting the plug into “window” and, with help of long nails, fix it strongly there (make sure nails don't get all the way through the walls of bear's house). Filling remaining little holes with moss.

Photo 6. This is how the restored den looks like before we musk it with dead bark...

Photo 7. And this is how with the bark. Almost just like a mere tree, isn't it. Based on external look, one wouldn't easily identify it as a real bear “maturnity unit”, you agree? However, even if a man of ill will have some initial knowledge of Ursus thibetanus ecology, he'll have to work hard to open the tree up again. In addition, along with damaging of the den he also has a chance of damaging his expensive chainsaw due to nails. There are only problems from people, which are ready to kill for money. It would be a good idea to not let them approach the maturnity units at all!

All these photos are taken by myself (last 6 - on May 5-th 2005). First time I repaired this tree (with W.S.P.A.) in 2001, but there I used a mere wooden planks for plugging a window. In fall 2004 (fortunatelly – before bear's hibernation) planks were taken out by some local vandal. However, the given tree is the only one, which I had to restore twice. All other resored trees are still in norm.

Alexey Zborovskiy

In 2005 re-restoration of a given den was sponsored by Far Eastern branch of ISAR foundation.