That may not be cause for celebration, but it can help us better understand wild animals and the complex ecosystems they inhabit.This is your number one stop for pulling 12 gauge wires or even low voltage cable through conduit. But parasites are a part of their lifestyle too. We might delight at bears playing, napping, and fighting. Including, sometimes, creatures we might wish we hadn’t seen. The camera trap captures all sorts of unusual behaviors and creatures. But it shows one of the reasons why camera trapping can be such a rewarding activity. It’s a tapeworm lodged in a bear’s intestine kind of world, a fact that most nature documentaries, wildlife photography and even conservation organizations tend to avoid. An estimated 40 percent of animals are parasites. If you can get by the gross factor, the evolution of these creatures is fascinating. Parasites are Biodiversity, TooĪs much as we might not like this fact, parasites are a part of the earth’s biodiversity. And the popularity of sushi is increasing the cases of human tapeworms.Īpologies if this blog has altered your dinner plans. It turns out, this guy enjoyed a daily treat of salmon sashimi. And then, like something out of Aliens, the “intestine” starts moving about of its own accord. The Guardian goes on to recount a pretty horrifying story where a man believes his intestines are falling out of him, which ruins his morning. © Florida Fish and Wildlife Research Institute/ Flickr If one segment is consumed by a host a new tapeworm will form. It does not have a head as such-its “head” is only useful for holding on to its host’s gut, rather than for “eating” (it absorbs nutrients through its skin). It has a segmented body, with male and female reproductive organs in each segment, so it is capable of self-fertilisation. “The tapeworm is a monstrous and impressive creation. Some will get sick and some will have an unpleasant surprise. Including humans.Īs with bears, most people will not even know they have tapeworms. There are at least 10,000 tapeworms on the planet, all with similar lifestyles and affecting numerous species. This appears to be uncomfortable for the bear, as you might well imagine. Sometimes the bear defecates either a living or dead tapeworm. After all, the tapeworm needs the bear more than the bear needs the tapeworm.Ī tapeworm living inside a bear can reach lengths of 30 feet or more. While bears can become lethargic and anemic, or lose weight, most bears manage just fine. The adult tapeworm gets its nourishment from what the bear eats. And in doing so, it deposits eggs for the next cycle of tapeworms to begin. You know the saying about where the bear does its business? Well, yes, it does that in the woods. Tapeworm in a pile of bear scat on the Central Coast of British Columbia, Canada © Paul Williams / Flickr The tapeworm lodges in the bear’s digestive tract, where it lives out its days. The tapeworm’s eggs are in Alaskan rivers, where they are eaten by crustaceans, which are eaten by salmon, which are eaten by bears. While this parasite may not make an appearance in the next nature documentary, it’s life cycle is pretty fascinating. Now you can add the broad fish tapeworm to the spectacle. Underwater, char and rainbow trout binge on eggs and chunks of decaying fish flesh. Bald eagles, bears, seals, gulls, wolves and more feast on the easy calories.
Naturalists know that Alaska’s salmon runs feed a rich and complex ecosystem. In this case, the tapeworm comes from the bears’ famous diet of salmon. It’s not unusual for bears to harbor parasites. Viewers of live cam feed at Katmai National Park occasionally note giant worms dangling from the famous brown bears. In fact, a quick YouTube search will show plenty of videos in this sub-genre. But Kampnich tells me it’s not the first time he has seen bears with tapeworms of various sizes.Īlaskan bears – both black and grizzly – are particularly noted for tapeworms protruding out their butts. The bruin vigorously rubs its behind against a tree to unsuccessfully dislodge the parasite, then walks a bit more and gives a few shakes for good measure. The bear is dragging what appears to be at least 6 feet of tapeworm. The camera trap video was captured on Alaska’s Prince of Wales Island by conservationist Michael Kampnich and its yuck factor has proven to be a big hit on trail camera social media groups. Let’s take a look at an aspect of the salmon ecosystem that you likely never considered. It turns out, this happens more than you might think, especially in Alaskan bears. Is this rare? Will the bear be ok? How did it get the tapeworm? Many are disturbed to learn that this bear is passing a very large tapeworm.
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