The anthropocene is the "rage of humanity"
In an increasingly human dominated world, in an epoch called the anthropocene, nonhuman animals (animals) are suffering greater than ever before. The anthropocene is also called "the age of humanity," but I like to call it the "rage of humanity."
Numerous people can help other animals, not only academics including biologists, conservation psychologists, sociologists,and anthrozoologists, for example, but also photographers and nature writers who are able to reach a broad, wide-ranging audience.
A new inspiring book called Grizzlies of Pilgrim Creek, the most famous bear on earth, American grizzly 399, is igniting a national conversation. You need to read this story. At hand is the question, "Should America’s iconic grizzly bears in Yellowstone and Grand Teton be put in the cross-hairs of trophy hunters if they cross outside the invisible national park boundaries?" Should we be “sport hunting” grizzlies at all?
In recent weeks a national controversy has erupted and soon it could go supernova. One of the catalysts is the new dramatic book Grizzlies of Pilgrim Creek by world renowned and award-winning American wildlife photographer Thomas D. Mangelsen and environmental journalist Todd Wilkinson about Jackson Hole grizzly mama 399. She is considered the most famous bear in the world and potentially she could become America’s own tragic version of Cecil the lion.
Grizzlies of Pilgrim Creek tells the story of 399 and her extended family of bears. I’ve never seen another book like it. What few readers may realize is that Greater Yellowstone’s grizzly population doesn’t belong to the federal government. These popular bruins belong to all Americans. And we need to take action to protect them.
A discussion with Tom Mangelsen and Todd Wilkinson who are fighting for the bears
Recently, I sat down with Tom Mangelsen and Todd Wilkinson to ask them about the book and the controversial topic it addresses, namely, the federal government’s proposal to remove Greater Yellowstone grizzlies from federal protection under the Endangered Species Act and to open the door to these bears being hunted for sport, which means hunted for fun.
Marc Bekoff (MB): Who is Grizzly 399?
Thomas D. Mangelsen (TM): She is a 20-year-old grizzly mother who weighs about 400 pounds and stands about seven feet tall on her hind legs. She makes her home in Grand Teton National Park just south of Yellowstone. Over the years, some 15 offspring (cubs and cubs of cubs) are descended from her. She also has a famous daughter known as research bear 610. Soberingly, over half of 399’s brood have already died in various kinds of negative run-ins with humans.
MB: Grizzlies of Pilgrim Creek, your new critically-acclaimed book, has been getting a lot of attention. It has really put Grizzly 399 on the map of international public discussion. I’ve been told that even policymakers in Washington DC are reading it.
Todd Wilkinson (TW): I’ve been writing about grizzlies for 30 years and I’ve never found a group of bears that provide a better window into understanding the profound challenges of survival greeting grizzlies in the modern world. I wanted the narrative to show the life and death interactions of both bears and people. What’s really breathtaking are Tom Mangelsen’s photos. He’s spent the equivalent to two years during the last decade documenting 399 and her cubs. That’s what makes these photos unprecedented.
TM: Besides being a charismatic grizzly, 399 is really a poster child for the controversy surrounding whether federal protections for the Greater Yellowstone bear population should be lifted and whether bears should be subjected to trophy sport hunting.
MB: And what do you think?
TM: There is a lot of compelling evidence showing that removing grizzlies from safeguards under the Endangered Species Act and giving states control is unwarranted and premature. I,and many others, including your good friend and mine,Jane Goodall, find the notion of recovering the country’s most iconic grizzly population in order to turn around and kill bears for sport to be repugnant. Millions of people enjoy watching grizzlies like 399 live. To shoot them so that a few individuals can be shot dead and turned into rugs and trophy heads on the wall is disgusting. We owe these bears more. I have a serious problem with those who are motivated by the thrill of killing wolves, cougars and especially Yellowstone-area grizzlies for “fun and sport.” People don’t eat grizzly bear meat. Grizzlies are highly intelligent and sentient creatures. They have emotions, feel pain, and are incredibly social and dependent on their mothers for survival for several years after they are born.
MB: What about the science of delisting grizzlies? Don't available scientific data support protecting, rather than delisting them?
TW: A number of prominent independent scientists have expressed serious concerns about the loss of key grizzly bear foods, some of it exace