A group of community residents, with the support of the local Economic Development Officer and Parkland Tourism plan to erect a life size, bronze statue in honor of the world famous black bear “Duke”.

The statue of “Duke” will be situated in a beautiful, natural setting where visitors can enjoy a picnic or take photographs.

“Duke” will be located within the town limits to encourage tourists to support local businesses.

Duke roamed the municipality of Rossburn and was researched by biologists and Park Warden in Riding Mountain National Park, located just north of Rossburn, Manitoba.

Duke was once the largest ever recorded black bear.

He was found dead in 1992, murdered by poachers, within Riding Mountain Nation Park limits, for his gallbladder.

In drawing attention to our black bear population, the committee intends to create awareness and protection for black bears in this area with interpretive information available at the site.

The community of Rossburn has adopted a black bear theme and will be incorporating it into community signage and advertising.

The committee will also cooperate with Outfitters in the area in an effort to preserve the local hunting industry which contributes to the sustainability of the community.

Rossburn adopts Black Bear Theme

By: Thomasina Charney

Black Bear At every community development meeting I have ever been to in the last two years, the idea of creating a theme for our community is always mentioned. The general concept is that just like Gladstone has a “Happy Rock”, Russell has a “bull”, Onanole has an "elk”, Rossburn needed something to call its own as a way to create awareness and recognition for our home sweet home, something businesses could adopt and promote, something the entire community could be proud of.

When I heard the story about the famous black bear named “Duke”, who has once been named the largest black bear ever recorded in the world (Duke weighed approximately 812 pounds) and the story which was published in an old issue of the Equinox about the black bears population in this area, I was immediately on board with the idea that we could begin to promote the fact that this area has the largest black bears in the world and we could essentially build on this community theme.

We could promote our black bear population to benefit conservation and to benefit the various outfitting businesses in this area. We would promote our theme as a means to increase tourism activity and to ensure our sustainability.

I am working on a local committee which is planning to see a statue erected in honor of “Duke”, the world famous black bear, here in the town of Rossburn. We are planning to work with the local “Petal Pushers Club” to guarantee a beautiful park-like setting for the statue which we can all be proud of. The statue will be life size, constructed out of wood or bronze and will be a gorgeous attraction with interpretive information. To draw in visitors to the business sector. As well, new community entrance signage will be erected in the Spring of 2008 which will feature a picture of a black bear to build on this theme.

For more information on “Duke”, our new signage or the article on the Black Bears in this area, featured in the Equinox please give me a call. Also, we are going to need more committee members dedicated to seeing this project through, so please contact me to see how you can get involved.