A female grizzly bear once approached Charlie Russell and left her cubs in his care.
The gesture is unfathomable to many who fear protective mother bears known for being overly aggressive.
But it’s just one of the many examples the renowned Alberta researcher and author has to promote his theory that this large, often considered violent animal can indeed be friendly if treated with respect.
It’s a belief that the now 69-year-old has been inspired to prove since he was a 20-year-old cameraman working on a grizzly bear documentary in the 1960s with his father, decorated conservationist Andy Russell.
“I saw a grizzly bear as, what appeared to me to be a peace loving animal rather than the animal that is ferocious,” he recalled.
Russell has spent nearly the past 50 years exploring this hypothesis and shared his work with a crowd of more than 120 at Red Deer College on Wednesday night.
The audience watched The Edge of Eden, a 2006 documentary showcasing Russell’s work with grizzlies in Russia.
The opening scene shows the soft-spoken man confidently approach two bears resting in a wind-blown grass field. A paw eagerly touches his outreached hand.
Russell admits in the first few minutes of the film that these bears are dangerous, but he questions what makes them dangerous.
He first attempted to answer this on his ranch near Waterton Lakes National Park.
For 18 years, Russell didn’t chase bears off his land and instead welcomed the animals to coexist with his cattle. He said he never lost one of his heard to the wild omnivore.
Russell wanted to further study if human and bears could interact peacefully, so he spent 11 years living among the animals in the Kamchatka peninsula. The remote region of Russia is known for having the largest concentration of grizzly bears in the world.
He also rescued 10 cubs from “primitive” zoos, raising them in the Russian wild.
Russell said he did this in an attempt to answer two questions: are these bears unpredictable and will they become dangerous if they lose their fear of humans?
“I decided that the bears aren’t the problem,” he said. “The people are the problem. And so we have to change what we’re doing.”
Russell knows his theory that forceful and fearful humans may be responsible for the aggressive behaviour exhibited by bears is considered controversial by some.
But he’s determined to share his experiences with the animal in hopes of fostering change so to better protect this threatened species.
“I’m not advocating that people do what I did,” he said before his first-ever presentation in Red Deer. “But I want people to see what’s possible if we drop our fear a bit and relax and trust them so they will trust us.”
Russell’s presentation was hosted by the Red Deer River Naturalists.
Myrna Pearman, RDRN speakers committee member, said she hoped the audience would gain new respect for grizzly bears and nature.
ptrotter@www.reddeeradvocate.com