Austin:
“Holy mackerel.
This bear’s coming directly where I am.
Look how it looks at me.”
My name is Austin Stevens.
I travel the world photographing the planet’s
most dangerous creatures.
But nothing before has prepared me for the
challenge of facing down a full-grown grizzly
bear.
Austin:
“This is as close as I want to get to this
boy.
Uh-oh.”
Austin:
“This is the Great Bear Rainforest of western
Canada.
And it’s one of the last truly remote areas
left on the planet.
I’ve come here to find and photograph one
of the world’s largest land predators – the
grizzly bear.”
A grizzly can weigh four times as much as
the average man.
It can run twice as fast as the average man.
And the fact that it could kill you with one
swipe of its paw should be enough to strike
fear into the average man.
It’s a good job then that I’m not the
average man.
Austin:
“Got him!
Ah!”
Because I’m not after just any old bear
shot.
I want to get as close as I can to these dangerous
predators.
Usually, these huge animals are shy and elusive.
But there is one thing guaranteed to bring
any carnivore out into the open – food.
Austin:
“It’s easier to imagine a bear being a
cute and cuddly animal.
And I do want to get as close as possible
to get some good photography done.
But these are big powerful animals.
They have powerful claws.
They have jaws that are so powerful, they
could bite through a man’s arm.
And I gotta get really close and get some
really good photographs.
This is not gonna be an easy expedition.”
So I’ve consulted with local experts, I’ve
stocked up on all the necessary supplies…
Austin: “I’m seeing straight away you’ve
got bear spray there.”
Store owner: “Yeah.”
Austin: “Can I have two cans of those?”
…and I’ve chosen the perfect time of year,
when wild salmon are plentiful and bears are
drawn to the rivers.
There’s just one thing left to do – find
the perfect place.
Austin:
“Although bears can be found everywhere
throughout this forest, to get the pictures
I want, I need to travel far away from towns
and people to where the bears have the salmon
to themselves.
But no road’s gonna take me there, so I’m
looking for alternate transport.”
I’m heading north into the heart of the
Great Bear Rainforest.
As you can imagine from the name, the weather
here is much, much wetter.
Conditions can change from sunshine to showers
seemingly in the blink of an eye.
I’m not quite sure what I’m looking for,
but I’ll know it when I find it.
It’s got to be a place miles from people,
a place close to the coast, where the helicopter
can safely land.
And near enough to a river that I can be sure
I’m in the middle of bear country.
Finally we find a likely looking spot.
But the terrain is much rockier than it looked
from the air.
The pilot is worried but tells me he’s prepared
to give it another go.
Tentatively, we go back in.
Austin:
“Well that’s it.
The pilot’s agreed to pick me up from this
exact same spot in two weeks time.
Until then, it’s down to me and the bears.”
I have to say, I’m a little apprehensive.
Two weeks in a remote wilderness is a long
time.
The Great Bear Rainforest stretches up the
western coast of Canada, from Vancouver Island
to Alaska.
It covers 70,000 square kilometres, and I’m
slap bang in the middle of it.
First I need to dump my kit.
Austin:
“Well this seems like a pretty good place
to put my camp.
And I’m close to the coast; there shouldn’t
be too many bears coming through here.
They’re more likely on the rivers right
now, feeding on salmon.
But you never know, bears can be anywhere
and everywhere.
So I’m gonna check around for any scat,
any signs of bears being here recently.
‘Cause I’m gonna have my camp here for
a while and I’d rather be safe than sorry.
If there is a bear here, I’d like to see
him before he sees me.”
Unlike almost every other creature I’ve
photographed, this is an animal capable of
hunting down a human.
These woods are second nature to a bear.
But here, I am well outside my area of expertise
here.
My home is in Southern Africa, where it’s
dry and hot.
I’m much more comfortable in deserts.
And I’ve spent most of my adult life photographing
venomous reptiles.
Austin:
“Look at that hood.
Isn’t he gorgeous?
Woah!
This is something completely different.
Austin:
“Well it looks pretty good.
No sign of bears having been here for a while.
I think it’s a perfect place to make my
camp.”
Still, there’s no guarantee that a bear
won’t decide to wander through here whilst
I’m asleep.
So I’m doing all I can to protect myself.
Supposedly, brightly coloured tents can catch
the attention of a curious bear.
So I’ve gone for forest green.
But it’s not so much their eyesight that
I’m worried about; a grizzly bear has a
sense of smell around a hundred times more
sensitive than ours.
It can pick up faint aromas from almost 2
kilometres away.
Which means I have to get rid of any scent
that might betray my presence.
Austin:
“You can never be too careful with bears.
They’re powerful animals with a powerful
sense of smell.
Now I brought all this excess food that I’ve
got here about a hundred yards from my camp,
to be safe.
And even though I’ve got this stuff sealed
in plastic bags, I still don’t trust it
because they might just pick up the scent.
You’ve gotta be careful with anything that’s
got any scent to it – even your toothpaste.
All this stuff is pretty well sealed.
Close it up in here.
The idea is to get it as high off the ground
as possible, and out of their reach.”
This might seem over-elaborate, but I’m
dealing with an intelligent and extremely
large carnivore.
Austin:
“I’ll just give you an idea how big these
bears can be, how big they can grow.
I’m about five-ten, but that means I can
still reach higher.
I can reach another two feet.
So we’re talking six, seven feet up there.
But a grizzly can stand eight feet tall, and
then he can still reach further.
He can reach ten foot.”
Austin:
“I’m gonna have to take it up a couple
more feet, get it right as far as I can up
there.
And hopefully, he won’t be able to reach
that.
I’ll just tie this off here, and it’s
quite a way from the base of the trees.
I’m hoping the bear can’t reach, even
if he goes up the tree.”
But none of this means that I won’t see
a bear.
In fact, I’m relying on it.
So there’s one more thing I need to check.
Austin:
“If I was unfortunate enough to be attacked
by a bear while I’m here, I have only this
one defense.
It’s a pungent spray made of peppers.
But if I’m to rely on this, I’d better
test it.
And that’s what this cardboard is for.
Wow, look at that.
What a concentrated spray.
Ah, and it’s quite pungent; I can pick it
up from here.
Woo, but it shows you how concentrated it
is from that distance.
That’s about as far as I can be, and I’d
have to be pretty accurate to get [coughs].”
Despite its potency, the spray is only going
to work if the bear is close enough that I
can hit it full in the face.
And even then I really need him to be breathing
in with his mouth open.
Quite a tall order.
Although the pepper spray is designed to repel
bears, there’s still a chance that the smell
might arouse their curiosity.
I take the cardboard away to burn it.
Satisfied that I’ve done all the bear proofing
I can, I decide to investigate my surroundings.
Austin:
”That’s gonna be my base camp for the
next couple of weeks, which is great.
It leaves me free to travel light.
I’ve got everything sealed inside plastic
containers, so they’re basically waterproof.
Got my bear spray.
With a little bit of luck, I’ll find a bear.”
Leaving my camp for the first time, I head
straight for the nearby river mouth I saw
from the air.
Austin:
”Well if I’m going to find bears, I’m
going to have to find a salmon-rich river.
And that shouldn’t be a problem at this
time of year because all these rivers are
teaming with salmon.
Plenty of feeding going on here.”
But at the moment I can’t see any fish at
all.
There will be salmon in this river, but I’m
not sure how far they will have gone upstream.
I start off after them, but soon spot something
else of interest.
Austin:
”Holy mackerel.
This is an ice cave, man.
It’s an ice cave.
It looks like all this ice, maybe through
the winter months, have gathered up here in
the rocks and just tumbled down and piled
up here.
And even though it’s sunny now and very
warm, it’s, I can actually see how it’s
dripping.
It’s melting off.
I have to go in, but I wanna take a very careful
slow look.
God it’s fantastic.
I’ve never seen anything like this in my
life.
This is like a miniature glacier.
And there probably was like a little…look
at this, on the edge, how thin it is.
It’s melting, almost looks like it could
fall at any time.
And I’m not too keen on being inside caves.
I do see some light at the back, so I’m
gonna go a bit in.”
Glaciers have shaped this whole landscape
of dramatic mountains and flat-bottom valleys.
But to find such a big piece of ice on the
valley floor in autumn is quite something.
Austin:
”Fascinating place.
You know what?
This chunk of ice is lying here.
It’s obviously fallen down.
This stuff is melting like wildfire.
I’m out of here.”
There’s no doubt that this is an amazing
landscape.
But I get back to searching for fish.
Fortunately, it’s not long before I find
what I’m looking for.
Austin:
“Just look at this.
There’s salmon everywhere.
As far as the eye can see, there’s just
salmon and they’re all moving.
And the water’s so shallow, you feel like
you can just pick them up.
No wonder the bears come and feed here.
Look at them all sticking out of the top here.
This is exactly what I’ve been wanting.
This is exactly the place.
This is gonna draw bears like you cannot believe,
and I’m gonna get my shot here.
This is one of the world’s greatest animal
migrations.
Every year, between August and October, millions
of salmon swim upstream from the sea to breed.
The urge to spawn is so great that some fish
will travel thousands of kilometres in search
of the place where they themselves were born.
Once there, each female lays thousands of
eggs, which are fertilized by a single male.
My plan is to follow them up river to where
there’s the greatest concentration of fish.
But I don’t get that far.
Austin:
“Can you hear that?
I heard something.
It sounds like, almost like a growl, two growls.
I’m not sure.
There’s something in there, something in
there.
This is all new territory to me.
I’m not sure about what I’m up against.
I don’t know what to expect from a bear.
I don’t think bears actually growl at you.
But I heard something.
Something’s going on over here.
I can hear sticks clack, cracking.
There is something here.
There’s definitely something here.
Here, here, here.
This is typical bear track.
Recent, as well.
Just been squashed down.
Bear’s been through here, big bears, I would
imagine.
Look at this complete trail.
There’s a problem in a situation like this.
The animal could be right here, it could be
right here and I wouldn’t see him.”
Already I’m feeling completely out of my
depth.
Austin:
“I see something.”
It’s a grizzly, right in front of me.
Austin:
“He seems to be coming to this pool.
I see salmon jumping in the pool.
Maybe this is his fishing spot.
I’d like to go a little bit closer.
He’s actually coming over.
He’s crossing on that log, coming towards
me.
I don’t know how far I can push this, how
close I can be.
He keeps looking back; he’s totally aware
I’m here.
And I don’t want to disturb him in any way.”
Even so, I want to get as close as I can.
Austin:
“This is the closest I’ve ever been to
a bear.
This guy just popped out of the forest.
Look at all the salmon over here.
And he just walked straight on that log and
he’s looking at the salmon.
He obviously wants to fish here.
If I was this close and he was showing any
sign of aggression, I’d be out of here like
a shot.
Isn’t that fantastic to watch that right
so close?
He’s just twenty metres from me and I’m
standing right here.
But if he decides to come this way, for some
of these salmon that are jumping right here,
then I’d better back off.”
Unfortunately for me, at that very moment,
he seems to notice them.
Austin:
“And I think he’s thinking about it.
He’s gonna come into this pool right here
by me.
Holy mackerel.
He’s got his eye on the salmon, but I’m
right in his sight.
He’s just ten metres.”
That’s already closer than I would like
him to be.
He could cover that distance in less than
three seconds, which is much, much quicker
than I could get away.
Austin:
“Look at this boy.
He’s thinking about coming over.
This is not good.
I think he wants to come over this way, and
I think I’d better start moving back.
Because, obviously, the good fish are on this
side.
I need to make myself really small.”
If I keep myself small, he might just keep
his attention focused on the fish.
Austin:
“Jump fish, jump.
This is as close as I want to get to this
boy.
He knows I’m here.”
I’m okay.
He’s going past.
Austin:
“Watch him go.
Woah, I tell you.
It makes you something when he’s looking
straight at you and he’s coming straight
towards you but you’ve got a fish right
in front of you and he wants the bloody fish.
I mean, you know, I do a lot of wildlife stuff,
but a bear so close, five metres from me,
coming straight towards me, a grizzly.
But he’s a well-behaved boy.
He’s just trying to fish.
He’s not hunting me in any way, thank goodness.
I’m so used to traveling around the world,
finding snakes and taking them photos of them,
you know?
But the difference is, with a snake, I can
grab the snake, I can pick him up, I can maneuver
him, I can handle it, I can keep control.
Why do I do with a grizzly?
I can’t pick up a grizzly.
If anything’s gonna get picked up, it’s
gonna be me.
I was so nervous, I didn’t even think about
photography.
I’m just thinking about, ‘Is this guy
coming for me or not?’
But he’s still hanging around, so I wanna
try and get some pictures.”
Austin:
“I never expected to get this close to a
bear like this.
Here he comes again.”
I can see now that this is quite a young bear,
maybe four or five years old.
I don’t know if this is his first salmon
run on his own, but he’s certainly got an
interesting fishing technique.
Austin:
“He comes down the river this way, then
he charges up the river and chases all the
salmon to the logs.
Then he goes and looks for them under the
logs.
But he hasn’t actually caught anything in
front of me yet.
If that’s inexperienced, I don’t know,
but he’s trying.
It does somehow make you think of a puppy
dog, you know?
The way he acts.
He’s like unsure of himself, a little bit
clumsy.
He hears a splash on one side, then he goes
for that splash.
Then he hears another splash and he goes for
that.
So he’s not got his system worked out that
well yet.
He actually sticks his whole face and his
hands and everything into it.
It’s fantastic.”
Even though this is not the fully-grown adult
I’m after, it’s still my first bear.
So I spend the next forty minutes waiting
to see if he actually catches anything.
But eventually he gives up, and so do I.
With the rain now hurtling down and dusk closing
in, I make my way back to camp to try and
get myself dry.
I’m going to need a fire.
And there’s a real knack for getting one
going in the wet.
Austin:
“This is what I’m looking for.
See, this tree’s been damaged, probably
years ago, and it’s running sap.
You can see the sap running there.
And it gathers over here.
Some of it, if you dig it out, look at that.
Oh, a solid piece, very sticky, resin.
This will burn, even in the wet.
That’s what I need to make my fire with.
It’s a lot of work, making a fire over here,
but it’s so important.
My clothes are wet and I’ve gotta get some
dry stuff.
Next step,cut up some kindling.
This stuff’s quite dry, and if I put that
on top of the resin, maybe I can get this
fire going.
And then I can add bigger wood later.
Ah, that’s probably enough.
Now’s the moment of truth.
See if this stuff will actually burn.
Waterproof matches, everything you need.”
A fire won’t do anything to repel bears,
but fortunately, it won’t attract them either.
As long as I don’t cook anything on it.”
Austin:
“Just keep going, just keep going.
There we are.
Just starting to catch on the resin.
That’s what I need.
It’s catching nicely, it’s catching nicely.
Can actually hear the resin splattering away.
And then, when it starts going, it goes well
and fast.
Slowly start adding bigger wood.
But I think it’s gonna go strong.
Then I can hang up a bit of washing, dry my
clothes.
This feels really good.
Now it’s getting there.”
I get my socks drying, but it’s hard to
find the courage to take off the rest of my
wet things.
I just have to hope the weather changes tomorrow.
It does.
It’s worse.
You don’t need me to tell you that these
aren’t ideal conditions for photography.
But I do have to keep tabs on the bears.
Reluctantly, I take a scouting trip out to
the logjam, where I saw the juvenile bear
yesterday.
Austin:
“Just look at this over here.
Oh man.
Look at the size of this salmon, and look
how clear these claw marks are.
The claw marks have gone right in there.
He’s pulled the salmon out, just like that.
Probably one shot.
Fantastic.
But there’s more salmon pieces everywhere
here.
This whole place is stamped down.
It looks like there’s been bears walking
all over the place.
Scattered pieces of salmon everywhere.
It’s like carnage over here.”
This definitely isn’t the work of one juvenile.
Especially a juvenile that yesterday couldn’t
even catch fish.
There are big grizzlies here.
Somewhere.
So, despite the rain, I go back to camp and
get my kit.
I need to stake this place out.
Austin:
“It’s freezing.
It’s so hard to sit still and wait.
But it’s the only thing I can try and do.
I’m hoping the bears, if I’m still and
quiet enough, the bears may approach me eventually.
At least when I’m chasing snakes, which
is what I more usually do, I know sort of
where to go and I’m, and I’m physically
active.
I can look under things and pull over rocks
and I’m in the right areas.
And generally snakes are in warm places.
That makes a difference.
These bears don’t seem to mind under what
conditions they’re living over here.
They can handle it; they’ve got thick coats
and they don’t mind the rain.
This is something completely different.
Right out of my ballgame, I tell you.
I’m freezing my butt off.”
I sit there all day.
But I see no sign of a bear.
The next three days are relentless.
The rain continues to fall.
Austin:
“With the weather like this and with the
feelings I’ve got inside right now, I could
just, I could just give it up.
I don’t know if I’m gonna make it.
This is really difficult.
It’s the wettest, hardest conditions I’ve
ever been in.”
I get the occasional glimpse of a bear, but
everything is against me – the wind, the
rain, the river and the light.
I haven’t had my camera out of its bag for
days.
I know the dangers of a wild bear attack,
but at the moment, I’m more likely to die
from hypothermia and boredom.
Yet, even when I get back to camp, exhausted,
I can’t afford to switch off.
Austin:
“Just checking my equipment before I go
to bed.
I’ve got my torch and it’s working fine,
and I’ve got my knife right next to me here.
And I’ve spoken to a lot of people and they
all say the same thing: If you’re going
to sleep at night in your tent in bear country,
have these two items right next to the bed
with you at all times.
If you do hear a noise outside, you want a
torch so you can just check, is it a bear,
is it not a bear?
The knife, because if it is a bear, not to
defend yourself; cut a hole through the back
and get your way out.
Let’s hope I don’t have to use them.”
And so, the days drag by.
Until, on the morning of Day Twelve, some
unexpected sunshine fills me with a renewed
sense of optimism.
I get up early to check whether my cameras
are still working after their long layoff.
Austin:
“I’ve been keeping all my equipment in
plastic bags with silica gel so as to try
and avoid as much moisture as possible.
Yeah, that looks good.
I’ve been thinking during the night.
I want to go back to the river where I was
yesterday ‘cause I know there’s bears
there.
This time, I’m gonna get my shot.”
Unfortunately, the respite from the rain is
all too brief.
I’ve only just reached the shoreline when
the clouds begin to gather again.
Nevertheless, it seems my luck has changed.
It’s another grizzly, and this is a big
one.
He’s a fair way away, but these bears are
such good swimmers, he could be across this
wide river in less than thirty seconds.
Austin:
“You always feel this nervous tension when
you’re getting this close to a, a big wild
animal like a grizzly.
There’s a couple of signs you’ve always
gotta watch for.
You know, if he’s starting to get aggressive,
there’s, there’s a few things that’ll
give it away.
Especially if they stare at you directly and
they flatten their ears, something like a
dog would do.
If he came for me, I don’t know what I’d
do.
I can’t outrun it.
I definitely can’t out swim it.
So there’s only one thing, the best advice
I’ve been given is to drop dead, play dead
immediately.
And if you’ve got your pack on your back
or something, cover yourself up and hope the
grizzly will just fool with you a bit and
move on.
At the moment, I can see this guy is concentrating
on looking into the water.
He’s definitely trying to catch fish.
But he does look up and down this way every
now and then, so I’ve gotta watch out.
Watch him go, watch him go.
Chasing the salmon up there, look.
He’s having a ball in that pool, eh?
Watch him shaking off.
That’s fantastic.”
If only I could get a shot of this, but he’s
so far off.
Just look at that poise and the power.
This is one incredible animal.
Austin:
“This bear’s fantastic.
He’s an experienced fisher.
You can just see the confidence in him.
This is not a young bear.
He knows exactly what he’s doing and he’s
going for it.”
Unlike the young bear I saw before, he’s
not chasing every fish he sees.
He bides his time, waiting for just the right
moment.
Austin:
“Oh, look at him go!
Watch him go for that fish.
He’s got one.
Look at the size of the salmon he’s got.
Do you see it?
That’s fantastic.
That’s a big fish, I’ll tell you.
He grabbed it right out of the water, a monster
salmon like this.
When he’s pulling on that fish like that,
you can clearly see the hump on his shoulders.
This is the first sign you look for to identify
the bear.
Grizzly’s got the big hump on his shoulders.
This is where the muscles are that allow him
to grab onto stuff, to dig and to hold onto
prey.
Very powerful animal.”
This is such a great bear, I’d like to get
round the opposite bank for a photo.
Austin:
“I’m just wondering if he’s going to
hunt for more, or if this is it for the day.”
If he stays for a little while, then it might
be worthwhile trying to get across.
He seems pretty settled.
I decide to risk it.
There were no obvious crossing places back
the way I came.
So I make my way upstream.
But I’ve only just got around the next bend,
when I hit a small problem.
There’s no way I can cross under this thing.
And it would be suicidal to try and go up
it.
I’ve got two choices: I go back or I go
round.
I decide to chance my luck.
Austin:
“I’m trying to find my way through.
But I’ve got a whole wall of waterfalls
here.
A massive waterfall over here and smaller
waterfalls over here.
It’s pretty obvious I’m gonna have to
find a way inland.
You know, this forest is unbelievable.
It’s the most pristine forest I’ve ever
experienced in my life.
It’s also the most rugged terrain I’ve
ever come across.
This has never been logged before; this has
been here forever.
The only way I’m gonna get around this is
to find a way inland.”
Apart from setting up my camp, this is the
first time I’ve ventured into the forest.
And for good reason.
After an hour of scrambling over rocks and
moss, I’m starting to feel the strain.
Austin:
“I tell you, this forest is all but impenetrable.
Every step is dangerous.
It’s slippery and it’s wet wherever you
go.
On top of that, it’s cold.
And in spite of the fact that I’m walking
all the time, moving around, climbing, it’s
icy cold in here.
Gotta put on another layer at least.”
I seem to be heading miles out of my way.
I can no longer hear the waterfall or the
river below.
But I do hear something.
Austin:
“Look at this guy.
Woah, listen to him talk.
Are you talking to me?
Say that again.
What did you say?
He says, ‘Let go you bully.
Let go you bully.’
Listen to that.
Isn’t that wonderful?
He says, ‘Let go, I don’t want to go with
you.’
That’s the Canadian Western Toad.
Isn’t he gorgeous?
A lot of people don’t like toads, but I
think they’re wonderful.
And they get quite big.
Sometimes they get maybe twice this size.
Yes, yes.
That’s true, eh?
That’s exactly what I’m saying.
Exactly.
And they’re quite prolific; you find them
all over the place.
And they actually go all the way down south,
right into California, into the United States.
Yeah, listen to him.
They’re very vocal, as you can hear.
Of course, like all toads all over the world,
they’ve got poison glands in their skin,
which you can actually see over here.
And that’s purely a self-defence mechanism.
So, in other words, if an animal of any description
tried to grab this toad, bite onto it with
its mouth, it immediately squeezes that poison
out through its skin.
And it goes into the animal’s mouth and
it’s absorbed.
And it’s very bitter and it causes him to
salivate, so he quickly spits the toad out.
Okay, yeah, yeah, yeah, okay.
I’m just having a little talk.
Relax.
What a wonderful sound.
See how his mouth is working over there?
Never seen one that’s so talkative.”
Austin:
“There’s one predator that can feed on
these toads that’s not affected by the poison,
and that’s the garter snake.
And you get a number of different species
of garter snake in Canada and they will eat
these toads.
They seem to have evolved with these toads,
and they’ve developed a high resistance
to the poison that these toads will secrete
through their skin.
So if they would actually swallow them down
with little or no effect at all.
Whereas other animals would definitely have
a problem.
Yeah?
You’re okay then?
You’re so lovely.
Look at that, look at his fight.
Like a car idling on the highway.
Look how long those legs are.
Look at his flippers at the back here.
Look at that, eh?
Incredible, and they’ve got claws right
on the end, tiny little claws right on the
end there.
Okay, I’m gonna let him go.
He’s been such a sweet boy, eh?
Yes, off you go.
Put you down, you can go back in there, where
you were.
There we go.
He’s probably gonna tuck himself away over
there and hide away for a little while.
Nice little find that, nice little find.
Beautiful.”
And then I spot something else.
Austin:
“Look at that.
Know what that is?
That’s a huckleberry.
And when bears haven’t got plenty of salmon,
as they have at the moment, a large part of
their diet is formed by these huckleberries.
Can you imagine how many he would have to
eat to satisfy that bulk?”
The grizzlies normally live up in these hills.
It’s only the salmon run that entices them
away.
But there are still plenty of signs of their
presence.
Austin:
“Just look at this.
I see this every now and then on trees as
I’m moving along.
Obviously a bear’s raked his claws over
here.
What’s fantastic is that the claws go right
through the bark, no effort at all.
Such power they’re using.
Nobody seems to know exactly why they’re
doing it.
He may be sharpening his claws or he may be
just showing that he’s around, showing other
bears he is around, marking territory, so
to speak.
Fantastic.”
Luckily, these ones are fairly old.
It seems that at last I’m heading away from
the hillside.
This dry riverbed should take me down to the
valley floor.
But it’s taken so long that I’ve given
up any hope of my bear still being there.
Just as well, because when I finally emerge
from the forest, I seem to be in a completely
different valley altogether.
As soon as I step out, it feels like I’ve
entered the lost world of the grizzlies.
Everywhere I look, there are bears.
I’m completely surrounded.
And I have no idea how many more there might
be in the long grass.
But this is the perfect opportunity to get
my photographs at last.
Austin:
“I can spot, I can see movement, and it’s
definitely a grizzly.
And it looks like it’s got a cub.
Oh man, now I’ve gotta be really careful.
One of the most dangerous situations you can
get yourself into is getting between a mother
and her cub.
But at this time, it looks okay.
They don’t know I’m here; I’ve got the
wind, I’ve got the wind in my favour.
Okay, this bear’s looking straight at me
now.
One of the things they told me is don’t
look into a bear’s eyes, but I’m still
quite a way away and I know bears haven’t
got a wonderful eyesight, but they’ve fantastic
smell.
I definitely don’t want this female to think
I’m threatening her cub in any way.
She seems quite at ease, but I can see her
so clearly.
She was looking directly at me.
Man, that’s fantastic.
I’m so close.
I’m so close.
She’s looking more settled.
Oh man, when you see them like that, you feel
like you wanna go out and pet them.
Haha.
That’s the thing you’ve gotta watch out
for; bears look cute and cuddly, but of course
these things are very, very dangerous.
Don’t get on the wrong side of a bear.
Oh the cub is also up now.
Oh man, the cub is actually suckling on the
mother.
That is fantastic.”
Austin:
“Wonderful.”
Usually bear cubs stay with their mothers
for the first two and a half years.
Up until then, they’re inseparable.
So as the cub ventures into the water, mother
stays alongside.
And I get the photo opportunity I’ve been
waiting for.
Austin:
“Ah, she’s caught a fish.
The mother’s quite aware of where her cub
is and she’s making sure that there’s
no danger to her cub.”
This is more than I could have hoped for.
Really wonderful Grizzly behaviour.
But as the bears come back out of the water,
I realize just how exposed I am.
Austin:
“This bear’s coming straight towards me.
One is in the water; the other one’s coming
out straight in front of me.
Look at the size of this thing when it gets
close to you.
Look how it looks at me.
It knows I’m here.
It’s testing me; it’s giving me the eye.
And it’s moving towards me again.
I don’t know what to do.
I can only slowly back away.
This bear’s coming directly where I am.
This bear is totally aware of me being here,
but it’s not, not showing sign of aggression,
but I mustn’t make any mistakes.
They are so close.
I’m not sure what to do.
The other one’s gonna follow as well.
Sure enough, the cub is right behind.
I just have to hope that it too goes straight
past me.
Austin:
“I’ve got nowhere to go but stand.
She’s lifting her nose like she can smell
me now.
Coming directly straight towards me along
the edge of the water.
It makes your heart race.
You cannot believe it.
I’m not too happy about this at all.
She’s starting to cut across towards the
grass.
If she’ll just go around me and not towards
me, I’ll be much happier.”
I do the only thing I can – I stand my ground.
But all my instincts are urging me to run.
Luckily the bear moves off first.
Austin:
“There she goes.
Holy mackerel.
Now my heart’s really pumping.
My legs are shaking, never mind that.
And if I don’t go to the toilet soon, I’ve
had it.”
As the mother and cub move away, the adrenaline
turns to elation.
Austin:
“Can you believe what I’ve just done?
I mean, this is what I wanted.
I wanted to get as close as possible to a
grizzly bear.
But I couldn’t believe that this animal
was four or five metres in front of me.
And the trouble was, I had nowhere to go.
At that point, there was no more choice; I
had to just be there.
And when she stood up and looked straight
at me, she was taller than me.
I couldn’t believe it.
You feel like you want to run, you feel like
you must run.
But they’ve told me the best thing I can
do is keep dead still and I did keep dead
still.
And then she seemed to look at me and sort
of discard me and off she went again.
Man, that got me going.
That was just adrenaline, nothing else.
I actually did it.
I got right within virtually touching distance
of a cub and the mother.
I cannot believe this.
This is the ultimate.
I’ve done it.”
Flushed with success, I set about getting
as many pictures as possible.
Walking out of this hidden bear valley, I’m
secure in the knowledge that, once again,
I got my shots.
Austin:
“This has been one of my most difficult
trips, but it’s been really well worth it.
I got closer to grizzly bears than I ever
thought possible.
Now I’m on the right beach, it’s more
or less the right time; I’ve got my signal
fire.
I’m just hoping my helicopter remembers
to fetch me.”
