Grizzly Heart : Living Without Fear among the Brown Bears of Kamchatka

365 Pages·2002·4.34 MB·English

by  Charlie Russell

Praise for GRIZZLY HEART
“With clear respect for the many bears that surround them, Russell and
Enns offer deep insights into the bear psyche and eventually prove that it
is possible for humans and bears to live together, even to trust one
another. More an adventure narrative than a scientific study, the thrilling
events of their story should not diminish the importance of what Russell
and Enns have shown: humans are the aggressors here, not bears. Their
message is strong, at times shocking, and eloquently told.”
—Quill & Quire
“The account of the three orphaned cubs is rich in detail and insight.”
—Winnipeg Free Press
“The value of his work is clear. During their time in Kamchatka, Russell
pitted his instincts and beliefs about grizzly behaviour against the views of
the “experts,” and emerged enlightened. Through hundreds of encounters
with grizzlies and the experience of raising three orphaned cubs, he and
Enns paint a picture of bears as intelligent, emotional, reasonable and
predictable, yet forever on the receiving end of all things nasty in human-
bear encounters gone wrong…. It’s an uphill battle, not without its risks
and disappointments, but Grizzly Heart shines a light on what’s possible.”
—The Calgary Herald
“It’s a compelling read about their effort to prove a peaceful coexistence
isn’t reserved for fairy tales.”
—The Edmonton Sun
To my son, Anthony, who at age eleven saved my life in the only physical
altercation I ever had with a bear.
—Charlie Russell
Contents
Prologue
PART ONE (1994–1995)
1 Bear as Friend: How Bears Taught Me to Believe
2 Scouting Kamchatka
3 The Bear Project Is Born—And Airborne
PART TWO (1996)
4 To Russia with Love
5 Shelter
6 Smoked Out
7 Meeting Michio
8 A Month of Hell
9 The Trail’s End?
Photo Insert 1
PART THREE (1997)
10 Planned Parenthood
11 Chico, Biscuit, and Rosie
12 Upside Down and Lost
Photo Insert 2
13 Independent Filmmakers and Fisherbears
14 The Cubs in the Care of Others
15 A Hike into the Heart of Darkness
16 Denning Up
PART FOUR (1998)
17 Russian Roulette
18 Befriending the Enemy
19 Survival Strategies
20 The Cubs Meet Their Public
21 High Noon
PART FIVE (1999)
22 A Hard Discovery
23 The Chase
24 Where Rosie’s Last Trail Led
PART SIX (2000)
25 A Grand Unveiling
26 Extreme Trust
27 Sanctuary
28 What Chico, Biscuit, and Rosie Taught Us
29 Where the Final Fear Resides
Acknowledgements
Prologue
n the spring of 1994, in the rain forest along the Khutzeymateen Inlet of British
I Columbia, I sat on a moss-covered Sitka spruce log as a female grizzly bear walked
down the log towards me. I knew if I did not move, she would keep coming. I had
decided to let her come as close as she wanted.
Occasional slivers of sunlight penetrated the high spruce canopy. I was in a moss and
jade world that, until that moment, I had only fantasized sharing with a grizzly bear.
This bear and I were not strangers. For five years I had been guiding bear watchers into
the Khutzeymateen and, being uncommonly friendly, she had been one of the main
attractions. Now, looking into her eyes, it seemed she wanted to push the frontiers of
her experience with humans, just as I wanted to embark on something new with bears.
As she made her way down the log, she moved with a swaying nonchalance. I am
certain she was trying to set me at ease. I tried to accomplish the same thing in reverse
by talking to her in the calmest voice I could muster. There was an uncertain look on
the bear’s face, and a similar look must have been on my own.
Finally, she sat down beside me. After a time, she moved her paw along the log
towards my hand and touched it very gently. I reached out and ran my finger along her
nose, feeling her well-muscled upper lip, which she pronated to explore my fingers. She
let me feel her teeth, and then, without understanding why I was driven to do so, I
slipped my fingers into her mouth and slid them along the tops of her square grinding
teeth. I ran my index finger back along the ribbed roof of her palate. She could have had
my hand (and the rest of me) for dinner, but she did not.
Even as it happened, I knew I was experiencing something that would likely change
the course of my life. If I could build on this moment, correctly and ambitiously, the
significance of what had just happened might have the power to change the relationship
between humankind and bears. I know how that must sound—like advanced
megalomania—but I still believe it is true. So much of the reputation of bears, and
people’s fear-dominated, love-hate relationship with them, is based on the belief that
the experience I enjoyed is not possible. If I could prove that it was not a fluke, not an
anomaly particular to this time and this bear, a huge shift in perception might flow from
it. People might learn to live with bears in a way that would not lead to collision,