Among the Bears by Benjamin Kilham and Ed Gray, Henry Holt, $26, ISBN 0805069194
CONFRONTED by two hungry black bears, most people would immediately know what steps to take: long, fast ones. But the bears that arrived on Ben Kilham鈥檚 doorstep in 1993 were orphaned cubs weighing a couple of kilos each. So he set out to raise the pair and prepare them for release back into the wild.
Bears have always provoked both fear and fascination but there have been few serious attempts to study their behaviour. Following wild bears in their natural range is difficult, and, Kilham鈥檚 experiment in the woods of New Hampshire was a rare opportunity to observe bears under semi-controlled conditions.
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A gifted amateur naturalist, he draws some remarkable conclusions about the complexity of their social systems. For example, few biologists would have guessed that this apparently shy and solitary species uses scent trails to lead neighbouring bears to areas with abundant food. It鈥檚 reciprocal altruism in action, a case of 鈥測ou scratch my back鈥︹��.
His biggest challenge, however, was training the bears for release back into the wild. A bear that loses its fear of humans may see easy pickings in garbage cans and bird tables, but in bear-hunting country it鈥檚 unlikely to survive for long. Sadly, this proved true with Kilham鈥檚 first pair, but he successfully reintroduced other orphaned litters.
Among the Bears is an engaging adventure story and a fascinating insight into the ursine mind. And if you should ever meet an adult bear face to face, you may be glad you鈥檝e read it. There is a scary passage towards the end when Kilham gets in deeper than he means to. So if faced with a 200-kilogram bruiser who thinks you鈥檙e trying to steal his new girlfriend, Kilham advises standing firm and fixing him with a steady stare. Well, it works with bears.