Bears

Patrick Colgan is the former executive director of the Canadian Museum
of Nature.

With this book, the Bauers, longtime outdoor writers and photographers,
add to the large literature on a charismatic group. Black, grizzly, and
brown bears are accorded individual chapters.

The text is a skilful blend of natural history, personal experience,
folklore, and anecdotes about celebrated individual bears and bear
researchers and their work. There are good discussions of bears’
general biology: their anatomy, diet, reproduction, behavior, and
population dynamics. Particularly noteworthy is the attention to such
features as cannibalism, delayed implantation, variation in pelage,
ecological niche, and specialization in urea metabolism. Bauer’s
examination of bear–human interactions includes a balanced discussion
of the risks of attack. In the final two (and very valuable) chapters,
Bauer gives pointers on prudent hiking in bear country and considers the
grim future of bears—a future premised on the continuation of
“development” logging and the international trade in bears’ body
parts.

Bauer’s admiration of and concern for these majestic animals are
evident and easy to share. His straightforward text is supplemented with
maps, an index, references, the addresses of germane (U.S.)
organizations, and lush color photographs of bears and their
environment. Reflecting the author’s travels, the book focuses almost
entirely on American locations, a shortcoming for those who seek
information about Canadian sites and organizations.