Do bears fascinate you? Would you like to watch them up close and personal without getting mauled or having to kill the bear? One key to safety and cooperation is
negotiation which is what this book teaches, based on 10,000+ successful encounters by biologist, viewing guide and "bear whisperer" Stephen Stringham.<P><P>
Ch1: Negotiation With Bears Coupled with standard precautions (e.g., staying in a group, carrying pepper spray, and not touching or crowding bears), diplomatic techniques vastly reduce the risk of injury while viewing bears. <P>
Ch2: Body LanguageDiplomacy is most effective if you can assess a bear s mood and motivations by reading its body language. This chapter provides a few basics. For a much more thorough treatment, read Stringham s upcoming book THE LANGUAGE OF BEARS.<P>
Ch3: Aggression, Socialization and Familiarization Among Bears explains how bears minimize fighting through winning
mutual trust and respect. <P>
Ch4: Trust for People Minimizes a Bear's Defensiveness and
Ch5: Respect for People Minimizes a Bear's Offensiveness explain how we can mimic ursine tactics to enhance ursine trust and respect for people. <P>
Ch6: Limits on Ursine Tolerance discusses limitations on what can be achieved diplomatically. Although some bears acclimate so thoroughly that they will choose to sleep or leave their cubs near people, other bears remain so dis-acclimated that they avoid people whenever possible. Be especially cautious around alienated or spoiled bruins; do nothing to intensify their dread or disrespect toward people. <P>
Ch7: No Crowding, No Trespassing discusses crowding and trespass in bear terms -- which are not quite what you might expect. <P>
Ch8: Approaching Bears explains how to approach a bear without crowding it, trespassing on its turf, or otherwise disturbing it. The best method depends in part on whether you are in an area where bears expect to encounter people and are tolerant of that, or whether an interaction would highly stress bruins. The distance you maintain from a bear will, of course, depend on what both you and the bear do. <P>
Ch9: Slow Approaches by a Bear discusses ways of coping with slow approaches by bold and curious bears. <P>
Ch10: Rapid Approaches by a Bear addresses scenarios where a bear "charges" towards you but
not aggressively for instance cases where it might be running towards a salmon in the creek near you, or where it might be fleeing from another bear. <P> Although this book's advice is tailored to people who want to watch bears at photographic range, it could be of great assistance to anyone who encounters a bear that is not enraged or predatory towards people. Methods of coping with aggressive approaches are introduced in Stringham s book ALASKA MAGNUM BEAR SAFETY MANUAL (also available from Amazon) and detailed in his upcoming book SURVIVING BEAR AGGRESSION.<P> Although you might win much cooperation from a bear while remaining aloof from it, the Everest of diplomacy requires empathetic socialization. This can maximize trust and opportunities to know bears as fellow beings, but only at significant risk. If you insist on trying, you ll need a lot of luck to meet the right bears in the right situations. And you ll need careful preparation and patience. Advance step by step, for instance by mastering the techniques in this and other
Bear Viewing Association books and videos, then getting personal coaching from BVA. Don t fly by the seat of your pants. Don t end up like Tim Treadwell.
Dr. Stringham began studying bears in 1969, while earning his BSc degree at Humboldt State University in Northern California. He has since studied black and grizzly/brown bears and other wildlife in Alaska, Montana, New York, Vermont, and Austria. His research on bear communication, aggression and coexistence with humans began during the summer of 1972, with grizzly bears at Katmai NP -- projects which continue to there this day. He has had in excess of 10,000 close encounters with wild bears. In 1973, he helped 3 orphaned cubs learn how to fend for themselves in the wilderness -- as recounted in his classic Beauty Within the Beast. Each summer, he guides people to see wild grizzlies and other wildlife up close and personal. In addition to individual clients, he has guided film crews from Wild Things (which featured him in 1998), National Geographic (which aired a segment on his work in 2007), BBC, Nature, Discovery and other major studios. He is Director of the Bear Viewing Association and author of Bear Viewing in Alaska. BVA's website bear-viewing-in-alaska.info contains hundreds of pages of additional information on bears, viewing, safety, conservation, and related topics. Included there are maps and descriptions of the top 100 viewing sites in North America. Dr. Stringham has also produced 2 videos on bears (Grizzlies Among Glaciers; and Wolverine Creek Wildlife Adventures). A video companion to the Alaska Magnum Bear Safety Manual is in production. This video illustrates many of the encounters described in the Manual. Also in preparation are two new books: Ghost Grizzlies and Other Rare Bears: The Art and Adventure of Knowing Wild Bruins and When Bears Whisper, Do You Listen?: Negotiating Close Encounters With Wild Bruins. Dr. Stringham has taught at several colleges and universities and is currently an adjunct professor at the University of Alaska, as well as President of WildWatch Consulting. As a consultant, he has played key roles in preventing severe environmental impacts from construction of a pipeline, dumping of hazardous wastes, and other problems. He was founding Director of the Blackfeet Environmental Office, of the Blackfeet Indian Nation. Among his major interests are philosophy of science and the integration of western science with the sciences of Oriental and Indigenous cultures.
