Though not reptile related, still interesting

IQALUIT, Nunavut - Northern hunters, scientists and people with vivid imaginations have discussed the possibility for years.

But Roger Kuptana, an Inuvialuit guide from Sachs Harbour, Northwest Territories, was the first to suspect it had actually happened when he proposed that a strange-looking bear shot last month by an American sports hunter might be half polar bear, half grizzly.

Territorial officials seized the creature after noticing its white fur was scattered with brown patches and that it had the long claws and humped back of a grizzly. Now a DNA test has confirmed that it is indeed a hybrid — possibly the first documented in the wild.

"We've known it's possible, but actually most of us never thought it would happen," said Ian Stirling, a polar bear biologist with the Canadian Wildlife Service in Edmonton.

Polar bears and grizzlies have been successfully paired in zoos before — Stirling could not speculate why — and their offspring are fertile.

Breeding seasons for the two species overlap, though polar bear gets started slightly earlier.

You know, it makes perfect sense. I wonder what other species can procreate together?

Art Klass said:

You know, it makes perfect sense. I wonder what other species can procreate together?

Click to expand...

Well you have the horse and the donkey which makes a mule. I do not know if this was naturally occurring or if it was initiated by man.

I seem to remember seeing somewhere that certain rattlesnakes are cross breeding in the wild which could explain the dual (neuro and hemo toxic) venoms being found in them in certain areas.

Man has initiated such breeding with the like of Splake (Brook and Lake trout cross).

There are a number of waterfowl hybrids happening naturally in the wild between ducks and geese.