The human-driven changes to the natural world are pushing bears closer and closer to civilisation, and that can only mean one thing; conflict. In this week’s collection, we explore the plight of polar and grizzly bears as they struggle for survival, and share two harrowing tales of what can happen when bears attack.
Pour a coffee, find somewhere snug and enjoy…
The Loneliest Polar Bear
Kale Williams for The Oregonian – 2017
Climate change is accelerating the loss of natural habitats for polar bears – in the Southern Beaufort Sea alone, there’s been a 40% drop in numbers over the last decade. In this beautifully poignant piece, Williams follows the story of an abandoned bear cub and discovers a shard of hope for the future.
He Protected Wild Bears for 13 Years – Until He Made the Ultimate Sacrifice
Nick Jans for Reader’s Digest – 2021
This engrossing extract from Jans’ book The Grizzly Maze tells the harrowing story of how a renowned ‘bear whisperer’ met a gruesome demise after 13 years of championing his cause; to overturn the perception of bears as dangerous animals. There’s also a film based on the book, The Grizzly Man by Werner Herzog, which captures the tragic final minutes of Treadwell’s life in bone-chillingly visceral detail.
A Death in Yellowstone
Jessica Grose for Slate Magazine – 2012
“His phone usually rings with news of mundane grizzly malfeasance: a bear breaking into garbage cans in the tiny town of Cooke City, or a grizzly being spotted getting too close to a rancher’s cows in Wyoming. But a call he got late last summer was much more sinister…”
Where Now, Grizzly Bear?
Brian Payton for Hakai Magazine – 2021
“Why do they come to the island only to leave again? What are they moving away from, or to? Could these bears be part of a larger, global pattern of expanding grizzly populations? These questions lead to an ice age mystery and a glimpse of a possible future…”
Lessons from a Bear Attack
Eva Holland for Cottage Life – 2020
“When she shares that detail—that she has felt a grizzly bear’s hot breath on her face—I feel something unexpected creeping up inside me, a little green shoot alongside the larger growth of fear and fascination as I listen to her story: envy.”
Bonus Long Read:
If It Gets Me, It Gets Me
Kieran Mulvaney for The Guardian – 2019
“Residents of Churchill, Canada share their streets with the largest land carnivore in the world as their isolated town’s identity faces a reckoning: a revitalized port…”
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