Natural World (1983) s25e04 Episode Script

The grizzly bear.
One of nature's most awesome creatures.
It's never been considered safe for man and bears to live close together.
But there is a man who wants to turn this notion on its head.
Charlie Russell, a Canadian bear expert.
- Come here.
It's OK.
- Is it crazy or is he a visionary? This film is his story.
Charlie Russell has been living with grizzly bears his whole life.
He's 65 years old.
Growing up in the Rocky Mountains of southern Alberta, he's spent his life in grizzly country.
I first met him almost 20 years ago when we worked together, filming bears in Canada.
Bears have the potential to be dangerous but Charlie believes our fears exaggerate the danger.
I think we have been really terrible about getting along with these animals because we're afraid of them.
We're so fearful of them.
And I think that we're fearful of them because of the stories that have been passed down for centuries about how horrible these animals are.
And, in truth, they're not horrible.
They're incredibly wonderful.
But we can't get rid of that story about them and, and that's what I want to do.
I want to tell the other story, the true story about what they are, what they really are.
So he travelled halfway around the world to the peninsula of Kamchatka, the remote province in the Russian far east.
Charlie was one of the first westerners to visit its capital city, not long after the fall of communism.
During the Cold War, all of Kamchatka was a military zone, off limits even to Russians.
that we didn't need to fear them.
He wanted to get in with these bears before they'd had a chance to learn to fear man but he was too late.
Charlie thought his study was over until a chance visit to the local zoo changed everything.
(Man and woman speaking Russian) These cubs are orphans, their mothers shot by hunters.
Here they live through the summer until they've grown too big for this cage.
Then they're killed.
Charlie knew he had to do something to help them.
It took some convincing but, eventually, the Russian authorities agreed to let him buy the cubs back from the zoo and take them to a nature preserve 250 kilometres south of the city.
That's your new home.
That's your new home.
Every year for the past ten years, Charlie has become a surrogate mother, raising bear cubs in the wild.
It's given him a unique window into the world of the grizzly and a chance to test his controversial theory that bears aren't inherently dangerous to humans.
And this year, he's invited me along to film his work.
The two cubs he's raising are both males.
They're about six months old.
The darker one is Malys, a Russian word that means little man.
The bigger, blond one is Andy, who took an immediate interest in me and my camera.
Andy.
Oh, you Hey, come back here with that.
Andy.
I'll get it.
Andy, no, no, no.
It's not for you.
Andy.
Get back here.
Andy, you can't have that.
- There, you can have your - Thank you.
- .
.
microphone cover back.
Andy'll remember that little trick.
You'll have to guard it from now on.
Charlie's base of operation is in the South Kamchatka Sanctuary at the very tip of the Kamchatka Peninsula.
For seven months a year, Charlie leads the life of a recluse.
The area, thanks in part to Charlie's conservation efforts, is now a World Heritage site.
The cubs spend the first few months living next to Charlie's cabin, in a large pen with a shed.
Thanks to Charlie, - Andy and Malys have their life back.
- Come on, bears, let's go.
Come on.
Let's go.
You klutz.
Come on.
That's it.
Come on.
Andy is more adventurous than Malys.
A bit of a daredevil.
And that can sometimes get him into trouble.
You're gonna get caught there.
You're gonna fall in.
Yes, sir.
Come this way, Andy.
Andy, this way.
It's amazing how readily they trust Charlie and accept him as their surrogate mother.
Maybe the world of bears and the world of man are not so far apart.
When they get back to the cabin, it's feeding time.
Charlie feeds them a mixture of sunflower seeds, rolled oats and a sugar-rich treat called halva twice a day.
Hey, guys.
And there's the mouse, right on the edge.
Whoops.
Yeah.
There he is.
This food is critical to the cubs growing up big and strong.
But they can't rely on Charlie for ever.
There are limits on how much of a mother bear Charlie can be.
Mother bears teach their cubs by example.
Fortunately, Charlie's cubs learn what plants to eat themselves by trial and error.
Poisonous plants taste bad, so if it tastes good, they eat it.
His short comings in plant grazing aside, Charlie is an excellent bear mother.
He knows that lessons need to be balanced with play.
Charlie decides to introduce his cubs to snow sliding.
Andy, of course, leads the way.
That's it, you guys.
One more slide and we'll go home.
It's not all fun and games.
The cubs are bound to meet adult male bears.
Some of them specialise in killing cubs for food.
We gotta go this way.
Charlie's familiar with some of the bears in the area and he knows this one isn't a cub killer It's OK.
but the cubs are nervous of other bears.
It's OK.
Hey, Andy.
Gonna let 'em go on that side cos they won't wanna go home with that bear there.
Charlie is able to protect his cubs from these natural threats as long as they stay close to him.
But sometimes their fear overwhelms them.
Losing the cubs is one of Charlie's greatest fears.
If he's not with them, he can't defend them.
This time, they were close enough to run back to the safety of their shed.
Charlie has to hope they'll learn to see him as their protector.
Hey, you guys.
For gosh sake, it wasn't that spooky, was it? Charlie is just settling into a routine with his new cubs when everything gets turned upside down.
A strange bear hanging around just outside the pen could be a problem for Andy and Malys.
It's not one bear.
There are two.
Charlie is thrown by this but then he spots something.
A blue ear tag.
Hello, Buck.
They're cubs he raised last year.
It's been nine months since Charlie has seen these bears.
They're here, Buck and Sky.
It has to be them.
It's incredible.
How can they be so big? I mean, they look like big bears.
They look like.
I know.
They're not very fat but at least they're big.
What do we do? Jeff, turn that I mean, I gotta think about this.
Do you think we should let them in? Let's let 'em in.
Yeah.
Why not? They want to be in.
Hello, bears.
Come on, let's go.
Come on in.
Come, bears.
I'm sorry I didn't recognise you, Sky.
I'm sorry.
I'm sorry, Sky.
Yeah.
Come on.
Let's go in.
Look, let's go.
Let's go.
Let's go.
When Charlie returned this spring, Buck and Sky had disappeared.
Yeah.
Yeah.
Buck and Sky have coped on their own for three months since emerging from their den.
But they're only a year and a half old.
In the wild, they'd rely on their mother until they were three.
God, they're big.
And they're long-eared.
Their f - They're lanky.
- Their feet are bigger.
Everything about them is bigger.
And Sky is acting different because the first thing she would have been in was into the toilet - or into - The troublesome one.
She was the one that was always giving trouble.
She's now kind of acting adult.
It's strange.
Hey, you guys, come make friends.
It always goes to show you, when you think you know something about these animals Charlie's bear family has just doubled its size but the little cubs are nervous of these new, bigger members of the family and that will make it more difficult for Charlie.
It's gonna be quite a job, feeding.
Keeping them all up on fish.
Go for a walk.
OK? Let's go.
It's been nine months since Buck and Sky have been with Charlie but they still remember the word, ''fish''.
Fish.
Fish.
That caught her attention.
Since emerging from their den, Buck and Sky have been living on greens.
They're skinny.
Charlie wants to get some high-protein, fatty fish into them quickly.
The shoreline of the lake is a highly competitive area.
Charlie never brings Andy and Malys here.
It's too dangerous.
The big males will be patrolling the area, looking for salmon.
Yearlings like Buck and Sky are at the bottom of the hierarchy, the bigger bears would chase them away.
But with Charlie along to stand up for them, they can get some much needed salmon.
Buck, there's more.
Over here, Buck.
Hey, Buck.
Hey, Buck.
Here, Buck.
Come here.
Sky is the more outgoing, dominant member of the family.
Look, Buck, fish.
Yes.
She's, she's looking for Buck and his salmon.
The competition for fish is fierce, even between siblings.
That's one reason bear cubs eventually split up and go their separate ways.
Here's one that's looking a little sick.
Sky, Sky, Sky.
Sky, come here.
It's a fish.
Fish.
Fish.
Fish.
Fish.
She got it.
She got it.
Good girl.
Good girl.
There are 400 bears that live in Charlie's research area.
We got lots of competition, don't we? For the little cubs' sake, Charlie has been avoiding them.
That's what I call a red male.
Buck right now benefits from Sky because they need to feel protection from these other bears that are along the beach this time of year.
And two of them together feels better than one alone.
Scratching his bum, eh? Oh, you're a character.
Buck and Sky can really relax now.
They're back with the only mother they've ever known.
And this is why they need him.
It's OK.
We'll protect you.
Charlie wants to show the year lings that he will stand up for them.
OK.
Stay put.
Whoa.
It's OK.
It's OK.
It's OK.
It's OK.
This big bear is coming right for them, asserting his dominance in this area.
Oh, that's a bad bear.
That's a bad bear.
Get outta here.
You get outta here.
Get outta here Like a mother bear defending her cubs, Charlie puts himself between his cubs and the threat.
OK? You leave them alone.
Yes.
Not good.
It's OK, you guys.
It really, it worries me, for the small cubs' sake to have a male like that around.
You've had experience with these sort of predator males before? Yeah.
Over the years there's been two here.
Two previous ones.
Both of them killed orphaned cubs that I had.
These encounters are not uncommon.
For ten years, Charlie's been living in the Russian wilderness, exploring the limits of trust with grizzly bears.
I need a lot of experience but I also have to have a basic understanding to know where you cannot go.
This is the edge.
You cannot step over this edge.
The edge was a way back there behind me somewhere, I thought.
But I've been going ahead and finding, no, the edge is a way out here somewhere.
But there is an edge.
I know there's a place you can't go over and but it's a way different than you ever have been told or read about.
So, so I'm exploring out there in the unknown.
By the middle of summer, the salmon arrive in large numbers, drawing more and more bears to the lake shore.
It's an opportunity for Charlie to further test his theories but it will also be a challenge to him to keep his cubs safe.
Although it's too dangerous for the little cubs around the lake, Charlie wants them to learn how to catch fish.
So while Buck and Sky are sleeping back at the cabin, he brings some live fish to a nearby stream.
These cubs without a mother have to have all the advantages of learning as quickly as possible to be independent because mothers catch the fish for them until they're about two years old.
And so the quicker they can learn how to do this, the better they have a chance of surviving because I can't look after them forever.
That's, er Next year, they have to do this on their own and, er, they will.
Oh, you're a smart bear.
Yes, you are.
You're a smart bear.
Malys, I don't know about you.
Woo.
He caught it.
- That a man.
- Good, Andy.
Oh, wow.
Oh, my God.
He got it.
Good bear.
Andy is amazingly good at it.
I never seen anyone that catches on so quickly as he.
He's a real macho bear.
Malys will learn from Andy.
He's not very good at it yet but he will watch Andy and he will, er, he'll get good at it quickly, too.
Because, er, there's no question, Andy's on a roll.
He'she won't forget this.
Let's go home.
Come on, guys.
There's no rest for Charlie.
Now he leaves the little cubs behind to take Buck and Sky on another tour of the shoreline.
- Charlie? - Yeah? - Big male is right here.
- OK.
This is the same bear that came after the cubs before.
Sky, let's go.
We're not taking anything from this guy.
We're doing this shore.
Get outta here.
- On his own, he'd give this bear his space - You old bugger.
.
.
but because he's responsible for Buck and Sky and they need access to salmon, he has to stand up to these big males, just as a mother bear would.
Get outta here.
Move on.
You big Ga.
Get! Charlie never carries a firearm, just a can of pepper spray.
His safety relies on his deep understanding of these animals and what he fundamentally believes is their tolerant nature towards humans.
Move along.
Be careful, Sky.
Sky.
Choo, choo.
Choo.
Choo.
Get outta here.
Get outta here, you old bugger.
Sky, Sky, Sky.
Sky.
Come on, Sky.
Let's go.
Yeah.
Get back.
Get.
The male was being aggressive towards the cubs, not Charlie.
Even highly-charged encounters like this suggest that humans have less to fear from bears than we think.
No, I don't think bears are ferocious.
They, er, they can be aggressive.
Er, but, and certain individuals certainly can be aggressive but that's just the way they have to be, er, to get what they need sometimes.
But you can easily work around some aggression without getting hurt because they can be aggressive, they don't mean to hurt, they just need to, kind of, get what, get where they wanna be.
But as far as ferociousness is concerned or being unpredictable, they're just not.
I wouldn't survive a day here if they were ferocious and unpredictable.
You can live very closefully with them and, and right there, they can be right there all the time as they are with me.
And people can learn to do this, to do that.
They probably don't have to but it's possible and that's what I want people to understand.
These things are possible.
Charlie is living as a part of the bear's society.
He has to in order to lead his cubs in the bear world.
He's showing us what is possible in the relationship between humans and bears.
We don't have to live like Charlie does but I believe we need to move in his direction to radically change the way we think of bears if they're to have any hope of surviving.
By September, the constant diet of seeds and fish is really starting to fill out the cubs.
Andy and Malys are growing up.
Charlie worries for their future.
Both humans and bears remain a threat.
Come on.
Andy! Malys, come on.
Andy, let's go! Andy and Malys are the bear equivalent of teenagers.
Already Charlie is finding it harder and harder to control them.
He's as ready for their independence as they are.
Hey, you guys.
Andy, Malys.
Let's go.
Come on.
Let's go.
Come on.
Let's go.
Come on.
Andy.
Malys.
Little bears! Oh.
Damn.
Andy hadn't forgotten about my microphone cover.
- No.
Hey, hey, hey.
- He was just waiting for his chance.
Drop it.
He's got it.
Andy, hey.
Drop it.
He's got it, Charlie.
Andy.
Huh.
Good one.
Good one.
That was right on.
My camera assistant, Paul, saves the day.
But now it's gonna be wiwindy.
Oh.
Doesn't look like he damaged it, eh? No.
What a rascal.
While Andy and Malys have grown bigger and fatter, Buck and Sky have undergone a radical transformation.
I find it hard to believe they're the same scruffy bears I first met who've grown big and fat, shedding out their old, winter coats and growing glossy new ones.
The key for them has been the abundance of salmon that Charlie has been providing.
The bears have learned that when the boat comes around, it's feeding time.
Rather than just handing them dead fish, Charlie throws out live fish, hoping the year lings will improve their own fishing skills.
Did she get it? Yeah.
Sky's a natural but I'm not so sure about Buck.
You have to wait.
- Oh, that's not any good.
- Buck, that's no good.
It's so wonderful to work around bears that totally trust you.
Charlie's bears have never been hurt by man, so Buck will let me put the camera right between his legs.
How about right now? You can go sneak around behind him now.
That fun, Buck? Is that fun? Buck and Sky are confident to patrol the lake shore on their own.
So while they're out, Charlie leads Andy and Malys out of the pen for the very last time.
Come on.
Come on.
Let's go.
Hey.
Come.
Let's go.
From this point on, Andy and Malys will be free to choose when they want to come and go.
Charlie will continue to provide food for them but their safety will be their own responsibility now.
When Charlie walks away from them, they don't even notice he's gone.
It's always a difficult thing, to let them on their own because you always imagine them like your child.
You know, will they be able to look after themselves? You know, it's hell if you make a mistake and you lose them.
The next day, the cubs don't return.
Charlie's worries get the better of him and he goes looking.
He doesn't see the cubs but he finds their tracks.
They're a long ways away.
I, I think they might stay out tonight.
The one good thing, I never saw any other sign of bears.
There was no other tracks of bears and no sign of them, so they got the place to themselves.
Are you, are you worried? I'm always worried about them.
I worry like a mother.
- That's good that you are.
- Yeah.
What can we do? We can eat supper.
There's nothing Charlie can do but wait and hope they're all right.
When Andy and Malys still don't show up the next morning, Charlie takes Buck and Sky on a walk around the lake.
She's eating a piece of bone.
He discovers something disturbing.
What is it you've got here, huh? What have you got? Crazy.
Well, there was a female - here with two cubs - Looks like two cubs.
.
.
and, er, and I was wondering why they disappeared all of a sudden and this looks like it might be the answer.
This is the remains of a cub.
Not too long ago.
Might be two weeks ago, it looks like it was killed.
Killed and eaten.
This male's hanging along the beach and he Looked like he nailed a cub.
They're opportunists and that's what happened.
Gosh.
That worries me about our cubs but what can you do? Finally, later that day, just as the evening fog is coming down, Charlie spots the cubs.
But they're heading down the lake.
That's where the preditor male has been working.
The cubs are blissfully unaware of the danger.
See, the cubs have ventured a way to far in dangerous ground, a dangerous area.
And I'm going to go try to get them before the fog comes.
I might not be able to find them.
I'm gonna walk them home.
Hey, little bears! Little bears! - There's a turtle right here.
- Hey, you guys.
- See him? - Yep.
I saw it there.
Hey, guys.
Andy.
Come.
Let's go home.
Let's go home.
Enough of this foolishness.
Come on.
Let's go home.
Let's go.
That's a good bear.
Come on.
Let's go.
We'll have some supper.
Watching Charlie, I can see how tired he is.
At an age when most people would be retired, it's been a long and difficult year for him, raising four cubs of two different ages.
I've only been here one season.
It's exhausting, physically and mentally.
That's what you came home for.
Yes.
Charlie won't always be able to rescue his cubs if they get into trouble.
But for now they're safe.
While he's with the cubs, Charlie can protect them from most threats.
It's when he's away form them that Charlie has suffered the most grief.
Charlie originally came to this remote part of Russia because he thought it was an Eden for bears.
And it is some of the best bear habitat in the world.
But even in this idyllic wilderness, there are no guarantees for Charlie's bears.
A few years ago, after he'd left in the autumn to return to his home in Canada, poachers flew into his research area, this World Heritage site, and shot every bear.
All of the wild bears that he'd befriended over the years and the orphaned cubs he'd raised.
(Speaking Russian) Bear galls are a valuable commodity on the black market for Chinese medicines and American and European trophy hunting is big business.
If this vast, pristine, globally-recognised wilderness area is not able to protect bears, what hope have they to survive in our rapidly-shrinking world? Where can they go to escape the influences of man? Nowhere, of course.
The grizzly's only hope of survival lies in our ability to change the way we think about them.
We have to learn to see the grizzly bear without our veil of fear.
Charlie's work in Russia can lift that veil.
He has proven that we don't have to live in fear of these animals, that, if we treat them well, it is possible to share the land, to coexist peacefully and safely, side by side with the grizzly bear.
It's time that we learned to be softer, gentler with these animals and drop our fear a little bit, and believe that we can do this.
I know we can do it.
I don't know the numbers of people that can learn but I think that, under the right circumstances, a great number of people in a community could learn to live with their animals much better than they do.
After ten years, Charlie's story with his Russian bears is almost over.
Charlie's going to take what he's learned back home to Canada and advise the government on how to help bears and people get along better.
His bears, though, are already home.
They have come back to the wild.
But the wild will always be a dangerous place.
One night, shortly after I returned to Canada, Andy and Malys were wrestling with each other along the lake shore.
They didn't sense the predator male until it was too late.
Andy escaped but Malys was killed.
He died as a wild bear, not at the hands of man in a tiny cage.
Charlie saved him from that fate.
Buck and Sky put on even more weight before denning.
Charlie continued to supply them with salmon and they grew even fatter.
Before he left, Charlie saw them safely into the den.
Buck and Sky will be just fine.
Andy was an intelligent and independent little bear.
He was always the first to figure things out.
After Malys' death, he realised the area around the cabin wasn't safe for him any more, so, one day, he led Charlie on a walk towards the distant volcano, where there were good denning sites.
Charlie followed him for four miles and then, on the north ridge, below the volcano, Charlie finally found the edge.
He couldn't go where Andy wanted him to.
Charlie said goodbye and Andy headed on towards the volcano alone.
Determined, brave, independent.
A true grizzly.