Natural History and Wildlife

Valley of the Bears

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Bear-human co-habitation challenges is on the rise across the world, with a dramatic increase in bear-human conflicts in the stunning coastal valley of Bella Coola, British Columbia.

The region has one of the highest concentration of bears and humans on the planet and conflict occurs on a daily basis. The hunting of grizzly bears is now prohibited, and bear viewing for and by tourists is growing uncontrollably. The bears are getting habituated and are losing their fear of man. Salmon numbers are the lowest in decades, forcing the bears to find other food sources, getting to town to forage for food, and breaking into people’s homes.

In recent years human-bear conflict has become ever more frequent and serious - locals are getting injured and bears are being destroyed. Jerry, a local resident, describes how he fought for his life when attacked by a grizzly. Lawrence, a hunter and father of three, rein-acts the incident where he shot a charging bear in self defense, after already having had his daughter mauled. Ken, a conservation activist, explains how he moved from the city to be closer to the bears. Fraser, a tourist guide, insists that people need to use electric fences to deter bears from their properties. People rarely used to see bears, so what has changed?

With gripping characters, stunning wildlife cinematography and storytelling of the highest calibre, we tell the intimate story, of what it’s like to live with an incredible, but unpredictable apex predator. With a feature-doc style inspired by “The Ivory Game”, it mixes fast paced action sequences with profound storytelling.

Screeners

Programme Details

DURATION
1 x 60'
AVAILABLE IN
HD
ORIGINAL LANGUAGE
English