BANFF – Out of the wild and into the Whyte, tales from the world over involving grizzly and brown bears, including in-depth coverage on rare European grizzlies will be presented tonight (July 5) in Banff.
Brown Bears around the World: Tales from the Wild is a joint presentation by bear expert Reno Sommerhalder and author Roger Thompson at 7 p.m. at the Whyte Museum of the Canadian Rockies.
General admission is $5, and free for museum members.
Italy’s grizzly bear population is on the brink of extinction and Thompson’s new book No Word for Wilderness focuses on the rare animals and their troubles. A discussion will be held at the presentation, followed by a book signing.
Banff’s Sommerhalder, with three decades of bear experience, opens the evening in a multimedia presentation with stories about personal bear observations from across the globe, specifically grizzly and brown, plus his thoughts on the Bow Valley’s bears.
“I’ve gone through my journals of about 30 years of bears,” for the presentation said Sommerhalder.
Having worked in close proximity with the four-legged animals, observing tens of thousands of bears from across the globe, Sommerhadler says he’s only been bluffed-charged six or seven times – in which a bear charges and then retreats – each incident being his on fault.
He added bears are gentle in nature and are a symbol of an intact, wild ecosystem.
“My main goal is to try to really learn what bears are all about and show them in my public speaking,” he said. “Bears, to this day and age, they have a blood thirsty reputation, which is not true. Bears are in general peaceful and tolerant if respect is given to them.”
