Charlie Russell
Encyclopedia
Charlie Russell is a Canadian naturalist
famous for his study of grizzly bears. He is the son of the well known hunter, guide, film maker, and naturalist Andy Russell
.
Charlie Russell grew up on Alberta
's Rocky mountains
in the Pincher Creek area just outside of Waterton Lakes National Park
. He has lived in the Rockies since he was very young, due to his father's fascination with nature, and grew up around a variety of wildlife, including bears. He has studied and mothered orphaned brown bear
s in Kamchatka, Russia
. Russell's presence in Kamchatka has been sanctioned by the Russian government in an effort to stop the poaching that kills many bears in the area. Bears have become prize trophies for foreign hunters and bear body parts are in high demand by the Asian traditional medicine trade. Russell insists that bears are misunderstood and are not as dangerous to humans as is commonly thought. He sees his work more as sociological than biological
. He has shown that bears are capable of having non-problematic relationships with humans as long as they are treated with respect. He and Maureen Enns were part of the PBS documentary Walking with Giants: Grizzlies of Siberia. Later Russell and his bears have also been the subject of the BBC documentary Bear Man of Kamchatka which has also been shown on cable TV in the USA and on Doc Zone
, CBC, Radio-Canada in Canada and on ARD
in Germany. The expanded 90-minute version of this documentary is known as The Edge of Eden: Living with Grizzlies.
Natural history
Natural history is the scientific research of plants or animals, leaning more towards observational rather than experimental methods of study, and encompasses more research published in magazines than in academic journals. Grouped among the natural sciences, natural history is the systematic study...
famous for his study of grizzly bears. He is the son of the well known hunter, guide, film maker, and naturalist Andy Russell
Andy Russell (Canadian author)
Andy Russell, was a famed conservationist and author who had a passion the wilderness. He was also a noted outfitter, mountain guide, photographer, television broadcaster and story teller. In 1976, he received the Julian T...
.
Charlie Russell grew up on Alberta
Alberta
Alberta is a province of Canada. It had an estimated population of 3.7 million in 2010 making it the most populous of Canada's three prairie provinces...
's Rocky mountains
Rocky Mountains
The Rocky Mountains are a major mountain range in western North America. The Rocky Mountains stretch more than from the northernmost part of British Columbia, in western Canada, to New Mexico, in the southwestern United States...
in the Pincher Creek area just outside of Waterton Lakes National Park
Waterton Lakes National Park
Waterton Lakes National Park is a national park located in the southwest corner of Alberta, Canada, and borders Glacier National Park in Montana, USA. Waterton was Canada's fourth national park, formed in 1895 and named after Waterton Lake, in turn after the Victorian naturalist and conservationist...
. He has lived in the Rockies since he was very young, due to his father's fascination with nature, and grew up around a variety of wildlife, including bears. He has studied and mothered orphaned brown bear
Brown Bear
The brown bear is a large bear distributed across much of northern Eurasia and North America. It can weigh from and its largest subspecies, the Kodiak Bear, rivals the polar bear as the largest member of the bear family and as the largest land-based predator.There are several recognized...
s in Kamchatka, Russia
Russia
Russia or , officially known as both Russia and the Russian Federation , is a country in northern Eurasia. It is a federal semi-presidential republic, comprising 83 federal subjects...
. Russell's presence in Kamchatka has been sanctioned by the Russian government in an effort to stop the poaching that kills many bears in the area. Bears have become prize trophies for foreign hunters and bear body parts are in high demand by the Asian traditional medicine trade. Russell insists that bears are misunderstood and are not as dangerous to humans as is commonly thought. He sees his work more as sociological than biological
Biology
Biology is a natural science concerned with the study of life and living organisms, including their structure, function, growth, origin, evolution, distribution, and taxonomy. Biology is a vast subject containing many subdivisions, topics, and disciplines...
. He has shown that bears are capable of having non-problematic relationships with humans as long as they are treated with respect. He and Maureen Enns were part of the PBS documentary Walking with Giants: Grizzlies of Siberia. Later Russell and his bears have also been the subject of the BBC documentary Bear Man of Kamchatka which has also been shown on cable TV in the USA and on Doc Zone
Doc Zone
Doc Zone is the flagship documentary series of CBC Television. Its documentaries stem from the front lines of the world’s news, and its subject matter ranges across the events, trends and ideas that are shaping our lives. The best Canadian directors and cinematographers offer strong, narrative...
, CBC, Radio-Canada in Canada and on ARD
ARD (broadcaster)
ARD is a joint organization of Germany's regional public-service broadcasters...
in Germany. The expanded 90-minute version of this documentary is known as The Edge of Eden: Living with Grizzlies.
External links
- http://cloudline.org/ -- Charlie Russell's website