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Bjoerk the bear and one of her cubs, Bern, Switzerland March 2010

Hats off to Jean-Jacques Annaud, filmmaker, whose 1989 movie The Bear is getting a new lease on life thanks to YouTube and Flixxy. It’s easy to see why we love bears so much when you watch this fellow.

And in case you’re wondering how they did it, here are a few answers, from Annaud himself, almost as fascinating as the movie. There’s a book, as well.

A number of amateur videos have been posted online recently, nice for anyone keen to see the new bear cubs in Bern, but swissinfo’s video (below) report in English is particularly good, if short.

The elephant that moved a car

And from bears we go to wonderful elephant tales, with one of the most startling stories about smart elephants that I’ve seen in years. Five, an elephant in England’s Midlands, watched while humans failed to get a jeep moving. She stepped in, opened the bonnet (hood to some of us), pulled out the dipstick and gave it to her handler. When the humans still failed to get the car rolling she walked behind and pushed it.

I’ve watched smart elephants in Africa and Asia, but I’m in awe of Five, who’s clearly worked out that even when you land in a place that might not be the one you’d choose for yourself, if you’re smart you can still have a real impact.

Bern bears video, swissinfo

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