THE GREAT BEAR: Contemporary Writings on the...

THE GREAT BEAR: Contemporary Writings on the Grizzly edited by John A. Murray (Alaska Northwest Books: $14.95). The largest predator on the North American continent, the grizzly bear ( Ursa horribilis ) stood at the apex of the food chain--until the European settlers arrived in the 16th Century. In the intervening years, the grizzly has been exterminated throughout much of its range, including California (although it appears on the state flag), until only a few scattered populations survive in the lower 48 states. The royalties from this anthology of first-hand observations by 17 prominent nature writers have been assigned to the Nature Conservancy programs to acquire and preserve grizzly habitat. The authors agree that the grizzly bear in its natural environment is a singularly majestic creature that seems to embody the spirit of the wilderness. Several of the writers discuss the possibility of reintroducing the grizzly in several Western states, noting that the threat to livestock and humans has been vastly overstated. (Of the 70 million tourists who have visited Yellowstone Park since it opened in 1872, only four have been killed by grizzlies.) John Murray concludes, “We shelter these bears in their preserves and parks, finally, as the ancient Greeks honored their sacred mountains, groves and animals, as a refuge of the spirit, testifying that our greed is not unrestrained, our growth not without limit, our grasp of the holy not entirely lost.”