The northward migration of grizzlies has led to more sightings of “grolar” bears in the Arctic.

Hunters from the village of Ulukhaktok, N.W.T., knew there was something different about the polar bear they were stalking but couldn’t put their finger on it.

It was far more aggressive than anything they were used to. They even called off the dog for fear the large white mammal would kill it.

On closer inspection after it was shot and killed, it turned out not to be an ordinary polar bear but one that was a cross between a polar bear and a grizzly, unofficially known as a “grolar bear” and “pizzly.”

“The first hybrid we had ever seen around here a few years ago was pretty nasty. They (hunters) usually stalk the polar bear using a dog, but this bear was so aggressive they couldn’t use a dog on them. It was too dangerous,” Robert Kuptana, who lives in the western Arctic hamlet of about 400 people on Victoria Island, told the Toronto Star Friday.

Over the years, as grizzly bears wandered further north following the caribou herd, the hybrid variety became more common, said the 69-year-old Kuptana. He added that a hunter from the village, Pat Ekpakohak, and his two grandchildren killed three of them just 10 days ago.

“One is pure white, one is partly dark and the other is fairly dark brown and the top part is white,” said Kuptana, who took a picture of the skins.

Polar bear and grizzly habitats overlap in the western Canadian Arctic around the Beaufort Sea. Grizzlies are known to occasionally to go out on the ice in the spring to feed on seals killed by polar bears, according to the Canadian Wildlife Service.

A DNA test conducted by the Wildlife Genetics International in British Columbia on a bear shot and killed by an American hunter in 2006 confirmed it was a hybrid, making it the first documented case in the wild.

Ian Stirling, a research scientist and polar bear expert with the Canadian Wildlife Service in Edmonton, said in an interview with National Geographic that the hybrid was “definitely not” a sign of climate change.

Andrew Derocher, a professor of biological sciences at the University of Alberta, is in Ulukhaktok, where he is doing polar bear research and saw the skins from the three hybrids.

“It seems to me they are getting a lot more common, at least in this part of the Arctic,” he told the Star.

“I think the story here . . . is that the number of grizzly bears on Victoria Island has increased quite markedly over the last 20 years. And part of that might be related to changing environmental conditions up here. It’s a bit warmer and it’s quite clear the grizzly bears are well-established here now and, of course, there is a healthy population of polar bears around,” he said.

David Paetkau, president of Wildlife Genetics International, based in Nelson. B.C., told the Star it was a “quirky” development that can’t be totally explained.

GIBSIDE, UK  - The Brits are breeding Geep!

Half sheep, half goat.  Yup.   That is what farmer Ian Bramley thought when he discovered his ewe had just given birth to a hybrid.

While it sounds bizarre, the genetic fluke is officially known as a “geep”.

“One of the boys told me the lamb had arrived,” Mr. Bramley said.

“It was dark, and I went into the paddock looking for her mother and she had this little black and white bundle.

“We don’t get black and white lambs, and as soon as I felt it I knew it didn’t have wool, it had hair.

“I said its father must be a goat.”

Proving to be more than just the black sheep of the family, the geep, named Oreo, was born to a sheep but is a genetic throwback from its father – a ram with goat genes.

Oreo and her mother, Floss, are among a menagerie of animals on loan to  FallyFarm, a pre-school and long day care centre in Gibside, England, from nearby farms.

The ram’s owner said he had been told it had goat genes “somewhere along its line” – sheep have 54 chromosomes, goats 60 – but in the genetic lottery Oreo came out fairly evenly split.

Oreo runs like a goat and has a goat’s face and feet but a sheep’s build.

What makes Oreo more remarkable is the embryo of a sheep-goat pairing generally dies in utero or is stillborn.

Fallyfoot supervisor Cindy Wilton  said Oreo’s remarkable birth took everyone by surprise.

“We jumped online to research it and discovered, while it is rare it can happen,” she said.

“We had another sheep who had a lamb but Oreo was six weeks later and we learned goats’ gestation is typically about six weeks longer than sheep.”

Since this happened – five months ago – British geneticists have figured out how to breed geep and they are… “furiously breeding as many geep as possible.”

“Brits have always led the way when it comes to goat and sheep and now… we want to rule the world when it comes to geep.”

At least they have something…

DETROIT, MI – As the stock market continues to tumble and oil prices jumping nearly 20 dollars a barrel in the last week, GM announces plans for new hybrid to run on renewable resources of Fairy Dust and Unicorn Tears.

Expected in Q3 of 2009, GM says they have been developing the technology for the past 5 years, but have waited to announce the revolutionary automobile until it was closer to becoming a reality.   The yet to be named automobile is known internally as “Codename Twinkle.”

GM CEO Rick Wagoner told reporters at this morning’s press conference, “We’ve been working really closely with the Fairy and Unicorn community.  We’re confident this new automobile will be a relief to consumers being drained at the pump as well as bringing Fairies and Unicorns back into the mainstream automobile market.”

Consumers might remember the short-lived sedan PD-30, short for Pixie Dust, 30 Miles produced by Ford in the early ’90s.  The first Fairy Dust powered hybrid vehicle was a commercial success but quickly pulled from the market under pressure from Big Oil.

This is the first time Unicorn Tears will be utilized in a consumer automobile.  The Teamsters have long been rumored to use a mixture of diesel and Unicorn Tears to fuel their trucks.

Wagoner commented, “Based on mythology, you wouldn’t think that Unicorn’s cry as much as they do.  They have this reputation for prancing on rainbows all the time.  But they are really sensitive, introspective creatures.  They listen to a lot of The Cure and Bright Eyes.”

The timing of the announcement has been noted as extremely strategic, as GM sales were drastically declining in China.

“The Qilin, the Chinese equivalent of the Western unicorn, is revered as a sacred pet of the deities,” said an industry expert. “To drive a car associated with prosperity… Chinese consumers are going to buy them right up!”