Nature: Bears

Go face-to-face with the Grizzly – Twice! Program 1: Showdown at Grizzly River During most Alaskan summers, the McNeil River Falls is swimming with salmon – enough to feed all the grouchy grizzly bears looking to fatten up after six months of slumber. But this year is different. The salmon is scarce, and the competition for the best fishing sports is fierce. Where does that leave Toughie, the impetuous little female cub who’s spending her last year at her mother’s side? As mom competes with Woofie, Creek Bear, and other alpha males to catch the remaining fish, Toughie watches and waits, hopefully learning enough to survive the coming years alone. Their showdown at Grizzly River is a natural story of breathtaking beauty and spine-tingling confrontation. Program 2: Walking With Giants: The Grizzlies of Siberia Who says that, given the chance, a ten-feet-tall, 1500-pound grizzly bear would tear you limb from limb? Certainly not naturalists Charlie Russell and Maureen Enns. They contend that this growing predator is an intelligent social animal that isn’t instinctively hostile to human beings. To prove their point, they go to Siberia’s Kamchatka Peninsula to live with a group of grizzlies that have never been with people before. Unexpectedly, they become foster parents to three orphaned cubs, hoping to fatten them up and teach them the skills they need to survive in this bear-bite-bear world.