Polar bear
From Lostpedia
Polar bears were brought to the Island by the DHARMA Initiative, who held them in cages at the Hydra station. Text on the blast door map suggests that DHARMA Initiative researchers were attempting to genetically modify the polar bears to allow them to survive warmer climates. At least some of the polar bears survived the Purge in 1992 and came to freely inhabit the Island. After the crash of Oceanic Flight 815 in 2004, survivors of the crash occasionally encountered and were threatened by the bears, and Charlotte Lewis discovered the skeleton of a DHARMA Initiative polar bear in Tunisia that same year.
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Appearances
On the Island
- Sawyer, Kate, Boone, Shannon, Charlie and Sayid were attacked by a polar bear in the jungle, which Sawyer shot and killed. ("Pilot, Part 2")
- While looking for Vincent, Michael was chased by what was presumed to be a polar bear, since the roar heard was distinctly different than that of the Monster. ("Tabula Rasa")
- Walt was shown reading Hurley's comic book that featured a polar bear on the cover. ("Special")
- Walt was later attacked by a polar bear in the jungle. He hid inside a banyan tree while the polar bear rammed at him. During this encounter, one can allegedly hear the polar bear say "Walter" as it swipes at the tree. ("Special")
- Two polar bears appeared fighting on an ice floe in the Swan Orientation film. ("Orientation")
- The Latin name for "polar bear", Ursus maritimus, is mentioned on the blast door map, implying that the bears were used during experiments on the Island. ("Lockdown")
| “ |
STATED GOAL, REPATRIATION ACCELERATED DE-TERRITORIALIZATION OF URSUS MARITIMUS THROUGH GENE THERAPY AND EXTREME CLIMATE CHANGE | ” |
- While chasing Dave, Hurley ran into Charlie and Mr. Eko and asks, "Did either of you see a guy run through here -- in a bathrobe, with a coconut?", to which Charlie replied, "No, but I did see a polar bear on roller blades with a mango." ("Dave")
- Tom says one of the cages at the Hydra was formerly used to house bears. ("A Tale of Two Cities")
- An attacking polar bear briefly appeared as a flash between the end of Locke's dream and him running out of the sweat lodge. Later, as a result of what he learened in the dream, Locke saved Mr. Eko from a polar bear in its cave. ("Further Instructions")
- A tuft of polar bear fur was discovered by Locke and Charlie. ("Further Instructions")
- Charlie told Locke that he used to get high and watch nature programs on the "Beeb" (BBC), where he learned that polar bears are very clever and "are like the Einsteins of the bear community." ("Further Instructions")
Off the Island
- Michael gave Walt a stuffed polar bear in a flashback. ("Adrift")
- Hurley read a comic book featuring a polar bear on the cover while on-board Flight 815. ("Exodus, Part 2")
- A stuffed polar bear toy appeared in the gigantic crib in which Drive Shaft filmed their commercial, "You All Every Butties". ("Fire + Water")
- One of the patients in the Santa Rosa Mental Health Institute was seen holding a stuffed bear during a basketball game. ("Dave")
- A polar bear appeared in a painting in Charles Widmore's office. ("Flashes Before Your Eyes")
- Charlotte Lewis unearthed a polar bear skeleton wearing a leather collar bearing the Hydra logo in the Tunisian desert in 2004. ("Confirmed Dead")
Trivia
Production notes
- According to the Season 1 DVD featurette, "Welcome to Oahu", FX supervisor Kevin Blank wore "polar bear chaps" and ran through heavy brush in order to simulate the legs of the polar bear seen in "Pilot, Part 2".
- Originally, director J.J. Abrams had been vehemently opposed to using a CGI polar bear on the show. The first version had a stuffed prop bear shot out of an air cannon towards Sawyer as he pretended to shoot at it. This version that was shown on the pre-broadcast commercial before the pilot aired. Someone posted a freeze-frame capture of this online, which according to J.J., looked "laughable and ridiculous". He conceded to trying the CGI version, which he and the production team liked much better. This was the version that ended up in the broadcast airing of "Pilot, Part 1". J.J. remarked that he was surprised people would analyze the show in such detail. The two versions can be seen below for comparison.
 Original stuffed bear |
 Final CGI polar bear |
- Lost: The Official Magazine (Issue 11) had an article on polar bear production for "Further Instructions", showing images of Jonathan Arthur in his polar bear costume for the episode. It shows how the polar bear scenes were made.
- Damon Lindelof and Carlton Cuse suggest that fans curious about Charlotte's discovery of a polar bear skeleton in Tunisia watch the Orchid video and further draw a link between the bear and the bunny in the video. (Official Lost Podcast/February 19, 2008)
Miscellaneous
- The knowledge of the presence of polar bears on the Island has been used as a method to illustrate that the survivors did not always share knowledge.
- A band called You All, Everybody (a Lost tribute band) wrote and released a song about the polar bears in September 2006.
Unanswered questions
| Unanswered questions |
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- For fan theories about these unanswered questions, see: Polar bear/Theories
- Why did the DHARMA Initiative conduct experiments on polar bears?
- What was the nature of the research?
- What long-term effects, if any, did it have on the polar bears?
- Why was there a polar bear skeleton with a DHARMA Initiative collar in Tunisia?
- How did it get there?
- How many polar bears are still on the Island?
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| Birds • Boar • Cats • Cattle • Chickens • Dog (Bpo Bpo) • Dog (Vincent) • Rat (Eloise) • Horse (Kate's) • Horse (Others') • Horses (Bedouins') • Medusa spider • Moths • Orangutan (Joop) • Polar bear • Rabbits • Shark •Sea urchins • Tree frog | ||||||
