Grizzly domain
Grizzlies once roamed the entire western half of North America, but the
fearsome bears now inhabit less than 2 percent of that historic range.
In Idaho, however, where the bears haven’t lived for 40 years,
grizzlies are slated for a comeback.
Last fall, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service announced that grizzly bears
will be reintroduced to the Selway/Bitterroot Wilderness Area in northern Idaho. Habitat
there, Fish and Wildlife says, can support up to 250 bears.
Though the reintroduction was originally slated for this coming spring,
Fish and Wildlife postponed the effort to the spring of 2002 to try and alleviate citizen
concerns in the meantime.
But the fact remains—grizzly bears, among the most powerful predators
on earth and at the top of their food chain, could pose serious management obstacles when
they clash with recreation and wilderness-based users and industries.
While the bears’ decline through the 20th century was extremely rapid
in the lower 48 United States—from nearly 100,000 to approximately 1,000 in
population—experts agree that recovery has been and will continue to be slow, even
under the best of circumstances.
Human encroachment on habitat, human-caused mortality and an extremely low
reproductive rate (second only to the musk ox) contribute to the slow recovery, according
to a Sierra Club report.
But in the Kodiak Island region of Alaska, grizzly bears still thrive, and
the bears there are the largest on the planet. In fact, they’re the largest living
land carnivores.
The beginning of the story that follows is a first-hand account of humans
attempting to coexist—if only temporarily—with grizzlies in the Kodiak Islands
while respecting the animals’ territory and instincts. It’s a blow-by-blow
journey that puts you up close and personal with the mightiest of North America’s
creatures—Ursus arctos, the grizzly bear.
(To read the story in it's entirety, please see page B1 of the August
16th, 2000 Idaho Mountain Express printed edition)
—Greg Stahl
Photo courtesy David Butterfield
“…He’s seen some action in the grizzly world. There are scars and hair loss
on his flanks. His ears are a bit chewed and skewed. His lower lip hangs down in a loose,
dopey flap like Pluto, the Disney character—probably from years of grazing on rough
vegetation. He is totally unafraid and I get the distinct impression that he is enjoying
the company and attention.”
The Giants of Katmai
Close encounters with grizzlies—one of our planet’s most
powerful predators
By DAVID BUTTERFIELD
Danger on the high seas, revelations in the wilderness, a guide with bad
hair and half-ton predators with six-inch claws that could eat you for lunch. This is an
adventure in the emerging eco-sport of bear viewing. Override your survival mechanisms.
Realign your basic instincts. Tune in to the big primal rhythms of Alaska and let your
spirit be guided by Ursa Major.
Got Fear?
Each time I’ve encountered a bear in the wild I’ve felt somewhat
at a disadvantage...no...scared sh*tless. I have no fear whatsoever of wolves, cougars or
any other wild thing one might encounter in North America (with the possible exception of
alligators, certain spiders and snakes and an-ex-girlfriend), but bears scare the hell out
of me. My friend, Buck Wilde, who has really bad hair and looks a little like Lyle Lovett,
is going to spend the entire summer in Alaska photographing bears. Would I like to join
him for a week? I'd get some great footage!
A few years earlier, Buck had been first on the scene of a fatal bear
mauling in Glacier National Park in Montana. Another time he was stranded on a small
island in a flood-stage river in the wilds of Canada and had to eat bugs to survive. He's
been right up close with hissing and snapping Komodo dragons, rutting bull moose,
stampeding wild horses and feisty polar bears. This is the big one though, he tells
me—never has he been so excited and so photographically rewarded than by his
encounters with Alaskan brown bears, ursus arctos, grizz.
It's as if the Goddess of Self Respect has put Buck in my path and laid
out this adventure. Will I be able to look in the mirror again if I don't do this? Time to
dig deep in the bucket of tough. My jaw is set; I take a long, slow breath; I look him
right in the eye. "Can I get back to you on this one?"
(see page B1 of the Idaho Mountain Express for
the entire story)
David Butterfield of Ketchum owns Diamond
Sun Productions. The company produces documentaries, commercials and assists visiting
producers.
