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| Living Alongside Giants |
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Unfortunately, as human settlements have encroached on bear habitats around
the world, it has become increasingly difficult to find bears that trust
humans. In Europe and the United States, for example, people have all
but exterminated bears from most areas: only about an estimated 1,000
bears survive in the lower 48 states, occupying less than one percent
of their historic range. Biologists estimate another 40,000 or so grizzlies
roam the forests of western Canada and Alaska, but these isolated populations
too are beginning to feel human pressure.
The couple's Kamchatka camp. |
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But in eastern Asia, biologists
believe more than 100,000 grizzlies still lope across the landscape. And
some scientists say nowhere on Earth supports a denser and more isolated
population of grizzlies than Russia's rugged, volcano-studded Kamchatka
Peninsula. Once, this 100,000-square-mile tongue of land astride the Pacific
Ocean was considered a Siberian wasteland. The 19th-century Czars and
later the Soviet dictators sent their most feared prisoners here to shiver
in the freezing winters and struggle through the ferocious storms and
insect hordes of summer.
But in this land of extremes, life also blossoms. Attracted by the millions
of salmon that use the peninsula's streams and lakes to spawn, grizzly
bears gather by the hundreds and thousands each spring, summer, and fall
to gorge themselves on fresh fish. Readying themselves for their winter
sleep, they can eat nearly 100 pounds of food a day -- not just fish,
but a wide array of berries and other plants as well. Upon seeing this
isolated bear kingdom for the first time in 1994, Russell and Enns realized
they had found an ideal place to test some of their ideas about learning
to coexist with wild bears. In 1996, with permission from Russian authorities,
they built a small cabin on Kambalnoe Lake at the southern tip of the
Peninsula. Using the cabin as a base camp, they have helped local conservationists
monitor local grizzlies and protect them from poachers, traveling across
the region by foot, boat, and using a small, home-built float plane piloted
by Charlie. Braving
the region's world-famous bad weather, they spent long months observing
dozens of nearby bears, learning how to live alongside them as just another
inhabitant of the landscape.
As WALKING WITH GIANTS shows, their careful observations helped the couple
develop remarkably intimate relationships with the shy and sometimes playful
bears. The two have learned how, when, and where they can approach the
animals without alarming them. They have shown that the bears are not
necessarily a threat, especially if treated with care. "We have seen
some incredible things," says Russell. Enns, however, stresses neither
she nor her partner have thrown caution to the winds. "We don't sit
out there taking unnecessary risks," she says. "We study the
bears carefully and we carry pepper spray" to ward off attacks --
though she is happy to report that they have never had to use it. Still,
the risks are real. In 1996, for instance, prominent wildlife photographer
Michio Hoshino, a veteran grizzly observer, was killed by a 7-year old
Kamchatka bear that had become used to eating at a garbage dump and thus
lacked the wild bear's instinct to avoid people.
Russell and Enns hope that what they learn from walking with the giants
of Kamchatka will help prevent such tragedies in the future. "We
have been able to live beautifully with these animals, with no serious
threat, because of what we've learned," Russell says. "Hopefully,
sharing what we learn will help people -- and be a big help to the bear,
too. It is a real problem for any species to be misunderstood."
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