GrizzCast

Grizzly bears have been portrayed by Hollywood as cuddly, bumbling, chatty friends wearing crop tops and singing songs, while simultaneously constructed as abnormally large people-eating predators, out to maul anything in their path. In folktales and myths they are powerful teachers. How we portray the grizzly bear is a fascinating part of our culture – one that is changing, as wild places and wild animals slowly disappear.

What happens when grizzly bears and humans share the same landscape, the same home? What happens when a mother bear is killed and her orphaned cubs are left behind to fend for themselves?

Near Grizzly Bear Foundation headquarters on the Pacific coast of British Columbia, we connect with veterinarian, former Zoo Director, and scientist Ken Macquisten. Nicholas and Ken meld the past with the present in a “through the lens” approach to wildlife conservation. With a shared hope for flourishing biodiversity, the two acknowledge controversy in the battle to protect the iconic grizzly bear. Listen in for creative ideas to help build a healthy future alongside grizzlies and hear special stories about unique characteristics learned from the bears at Kicking Horse Grizzly Bear Refuge and Grouse Mountain Refuge for Endangered Wildlife.

If you enjoyed listening to this episode, please consider supporting our efforts with a financial gift to help safeguard the lands grizzly bears roam, the food they eat, and the wild we share.

Nearly 1,000 kilometres away from the nearest ocean lies the largest Inland Temperate Rainforest on Planet Earth.

“Ultimately, grizzly bears led me to this very, very different sense of nature where I didn't see nature as an opponent--as something that was out to challenge me or hurt me. I saw it as something that was much more restorative and something that I could be part of. ”

Join us as we adventure into an ancient temperate old-growth forest with Julius Strauss, a former war correspondent, wilderness guide and activist.

“We owe it to the bears, and we owe it to this place to do more.”

If you enjoyed listening to this episode, please consider supporting our efforts with a financial gift to help safeguard the lands grizzly bears roam, the food they eat, and the wild we share.

The Great Bear Rainforest. Sacred wisdom sits here. It’s a place of magic and mystery, where ancient stories blanket great valleys.

“The grizzly bear in our culture symbolizes power and especially authority. I always have a saying. Rather than letting the authority be the truth, let the truth be the authority.”

This is a story about the life and death of a young grizzly bear in the Broughton Archipelago, British Columbia’s largest marine park. During one of the most impactful global events in recent history, a physically-distanced world saw a joint effort by First Nations, the Grizzly Bear Foundation and the provincial government to save a wayward male grizzly: Mali.

“Mali comes from Malilikulla, and that's the ancestor of this place where we're sitting. That's why they're called Mamalilikulla. It’s plural for the future generations of Malilikulla.”

Mike Willie of the Kwikwasutinuxw/Haxwa’mis First Nation and owner/lead guide of Sea Wolf Adventures considers how Indigenous governance can lead to more effective conservation and help strengthen our connection to each other and to the natural world.

If you enjoyed listening to this episode, please consider supporting our efforts with a financial gift to help safeguard the lands grizzly bears roam, the food they eat, and the wild we share.

After years in the trophy hunting business, Phil Timpany has redefined his relationship with grizzly bears, honouring their forgiveness and dedicating his life to their well-being.

“I was responsible for a lot of grizzly bear deaths. I feel that I owe them. I'm really trying hard to pay that debt back and also in a respect to the animal being so intelligent and so able to understand what coexistence is with me.

Bears have vast knowledge stored up, especially the adults. They are constantly passing information on to their offspring. I’ve just gained such a huge respect for these animals.”

Dubbed the “bear whisperer of North Yukon”, Phil shares how his work as a bear guide is connected to helping preserve an entire ecosystem - from the rivers and spawning salmon to Indigenous communities and beyond.

If you enjoyed listening to this episode, please consider supporting our efforts with a financial gift to help safeguard the lands grizzly bears roam, the food they eat, and the wild we share.

Join Grizzly Bear Foundation’s Executive Director, Nicholas Scapillati, on a journey through some of the most famous grizzly country in the world with naturalist, author and Vietnam veteran Doug Peacock.

“I’m fighting for grizzlies but it could be any other animal including Homo Sapien, you know I'd be doing the same damn thing,” said Doug Peacock. “Things have got to move. I'm not sure we got enough time to do all that but I'm not going to quit trying.”

Much as the flow of the current pulls a canoe down the river, we hear how the call of the wilderness pulled this icon of conservation toward the grizzly bear, restoring the soul of a war-ravaged soldier. Now a grandfather, Doug explores the future of the grizzly and the importance of the greater Yellowstone ecosystem for these soul-saving bears.

If you enjoyed listening to this episode, please consider supporting our efforts with a financial gift to help safeguard the lands grizzly bears roam, the food they eat, and the wild we share.

Inspired by an iconic symbol of the North American wild - the grizzly bear - GrizzCast is a narrative, fact-based show by the Grizzly Bear Foundation that takes listeners across the grizzly bear’s range through a diversity of voices and stories of people working on the frontlines of conservation.

As we continue to share these stories, please consider supporting our work with a financial gift by visiting our donation page today. Help safeguard the lands grizzly bears roam, the food they eat, and the wild we share.