The oldest discovered statue, fashioned some fifteen to twenty thousand years ago, is of a bear. The lion was not always king. From antiquity to the Middle Ages, the bear’s centrality in cults and mythologies left traces in European languages, literatures, and legends from the Slavic East to Celtic Britain. Historian Michel Pastoureau considers how this once venerated creature was deposed by the advent of Christianity and continued to sink lower in the symbolic bestiary before rising again in Pyrrhic triumph as a popular toy.

The early Church was threatened by pagan legends of the bear’s power, among them a widespread belief that male bears were sexually attracted to women and would violate them, producing half-bear, half-human beings—invincible warriors who founded royal lines. Marked for death by the clergy, bears were massacred. During the Renaissance, the demonic prestige bears had been assigned in biblical allegory was lost to the goat, ass, bat, and owl, who were the devil’s new familiars, while the lion was crowned as the symbol of nobility. Once the undefeated champions of the Roman arena, prized in princely menageries, bears became entertainers in the marketplace, trained to perform humiliating tricks or muzzled and devoured by packs of dogs for the amusement of humans. By the early twentieth century, however, the bear would return from exile, making its way into the hearts of children everywhere as the teddy bear.

This compelling history reminds us that men and bears have always been inseparable, united by a kinship that gradually moved from nature to culture—a bond that continues to this day.

Brown bears are powerful symbols of wilderness, thriving in the vast, untamed ecosystems of Alaska’s remote national parks. Brown Bears in Alaska’s National Parks is a unique and thorough exploration of the conservation, ecology, and management of brown bears in these parks, including examinations of bear biology, human-bear interactions, population estimation methods, and the effects of climate change on bear populations. This lavishly illustrated volume offers fresh perspectives about the complex challenges that bears and humans face as they navigate coexistence in the evolving wilderness of Alaska.

Through park-specific chapters, the authors clearly present the current understanding of brown bear ecology across a wide range of ecosystems—from the sparse and frigid Gates of the Arctic, entirely above the Arctic Circle, to the bountiful coast of Katmai, where the marine and terrestrial systems converge. In Glacier Bay, bears roam newly exposed ecosystems shaped by retreating glaciers, while the interior landscapes of Lake Clark and Denali provide a mix of boreal forests, tundra, rivers, and towering mountains.

Brown bears—and the many species that share their habitats—face numerous challenges, with climate change among the greatest threats. The warming climate intensifies other pressures, such as industrial development, both within and around park boundaries. Management actions may also reduce native brown bear populations and, in turn, threaten healthy and naturally functioning ecosystems. The adaptability of brown bears, in concert with thoughtful and science-based management, is essential for the conservation of these majestic creatures and the wilderness landscapes on which they depend.

Written by the wildlife biologists and anthropologists who have dedicated their careers to studying brown (grizzly) bears and their relationship to people, Brown Bears in Alaska’s National Parks is a premier reference for bear enthusiasts, biologists, managers, and academics, as well as advocates for wild things and wild places.

Winner, Ottis Lock Endowment Award for the best book on East Texas, East Texas Historical Association, 1985
Texas Literary Festival Award for Nonfiction (Southwestern Booksellers Association & Dallas Times Herald), 1985
Annual Publication Award, Texas Chapter of the Wildlife Society, 1984

The story of the land, wildlife, and ecology of East Texas.