Zookeepers baffled by bare bears at zoo in Leipzig

RIGHT: A Spectacled bear named Dolores walks around her enclosure at the zoo in the eastern German city of Leipzig / AFP

The Daily Telegraph
November 06, 2009

• Zoo bears lose all of their body hair
• Some experts blame a genetic defect
• Bears do not seem to be suffering

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 spectacled 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 would now be growing a thicker coat to keep warm during the winter.

Instead they have developed nasty rashes and inflammations.

Unfortunately for the bears, their lack of hair has been pulling in the crowds, with hundreds more people than normal visiting the zoo to see the bare, wrinkly animals.

Hopefully the zoo will be turning up the heat in their enclosure as the German winter approaches.

Spectacled bears are native to South America and are sometimes called Andean bears, after the mountain range they occupy.

They are South America's only native bear and they're typically distinguishable by eyeglass-shaped markings on their faces.

http://www.news.com.au/story/0,27574,26312220-13762,00.html
(Submitted by Peter)

See also: http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/europe/8345550.stm
(Submitted by Ciaran Conliffe)