by Charlie Russell with
Maureen Enns
Canadian naturalist Charlie
Russell's has become a legend of sorts on
Kamchatka (he is, for example, the only
foreigner I know of who has ever been allowed
to fly his own private plane in Kamchatka's
wilderness).
In the mid 1990's he traveled to the Russian
Far East in search of an opportunity to
study brown bears in an environment where
they had not yet been corrupted by negative
interactions with man. He found such an
environment on Kamchatka, "the most
remote and wild part of Russia... the least
despoiled grizzly bear habitat in the world."
Once on Kamchatka Charlie proceeded to alter
pre-conceived notions about Russian bureaucracy
and brown bear behavior alike. Together
with his partner Maureen Enns, he received
permission to build a small hut in the deep
wilderness of southern Kamchatka where the
bear population is densest and most isolated.
What's more they convinced the local authorities
to allow them to take 3 recently orphaned
bear cubs into the wilderness with them
in order to raise and reintroduce into the
wild.
In the course of 7 years Charlie and Maureen
spent half of each year on Kamchatka - living
in close contact with the local bear population,
raising their orphaned cubs to be independent,
and exploring Charlie's belief in the capacity
of bear and man to live in close proximity,
devoid of fear, and with mutual respect.
Told with candor and ease, Grizzly Heart
is a superbly written story recounting Charlie's
experiences on Kamchatka. It is also
the best look into the realities of life
in the Kamchatkan wilderness currently available
in English.
Publisher's Comments
To many people, grizzlies are
symbols of power and ferocity - creatures
to be feared and, too often, killed.
But Charlie Russell, who has had a forty-year
relationship with bears, holds the controversial
belief that it is possible to live with
and truly understand bears in the wild.
For the past six years, Russell and his
partner, artist and photographer Maureen
Enns, have spent summers on the rugged and
glorious Kamchatka Peninsula on the northeast
coast of Russia, home to the densest population
of brown bears in the world. Grizzly
Heart is the remarkable account of
how Russell and Enns have defied the preconceptions
of wildlife officials and the general public
by living unthreatened - and respected -
among the grizzlies of Kamchatka.
Reviews
"An absolutely remarkable
and well-documented account of close encounters
with grizzlies. This book is a truly
fascinating adventure in nature with an
invaluable wealth of insider information
on both bear and human nature." -
Robert Bateman
"Charlie Russell sets aside the
folklore and misconceptions surrounding
grizzlies, as he and Maureen Enns strive
to understand these exceptional creatures
on their own terms. It's pioneering
work, and Grizzly Heart is a unique
window into a world few people get to see."
- Dr. Lynn Rogers, Principal Biologist,
Wildlife Research Institute
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Regions Covered
- South Kamchatka Sanctuary
- Kurilskoye Lake
- Kambalnoye Lake
- Petropavlovsk-Kamchatsky, and regions
south
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Table of Contents
Prologue 1
PART ONE (1994-1995) 3
1) Bear as Friend: How Bears Taught
Me to Believe 5
2) Scouting Kamchatka 19
3) The Bear Project is Born - And
Airborne 29
PART TWO (1996) 37
4) To Russia with Love 39
5) Shelter 53
6) Smoked Out 63
7) Meeting Michio 75
8) A Month of Hell 95
9) The Trail's End? 105
PART THREE (1997)
119
10) Planned Parenthood 121
11) Chico, Biscuit, and Rosie 137
12) Upside Down and Lost 151
13) Independent Filmmakers and Fisherbears
167
14) The Cubs in the Care of Others
187
15) A Hike into the Heart of Darkness
197
16) Denning Up 207
PART FOUR (1998) 219
17) Russian Roulette 221
18) Befriending the Enemy 231
19) Survival Strategies 243
20) The Cubs Meet Their Public 251
21) High Noon 259
PART FIVE (1999) 269
22) A Hard Discovery 271
23) The Chase 279
24) Where Rosie's Last Trail Led
289
PART SIX (2000) 307
25) A Grand Unveiling 309
26) Extreme Trust 321
27) Sanctuary 333
28) What Chico, Biscuit, and Rosie
Taught Us 341
29) Where the Final Fear Resides
349
Acknowledgements 355
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Further Reading/Viewing |
