Andrew Charles Russell (August 19, 1941 – May 7, 2018) was a Canadian

naturalist Natural history is a domain of inquiry involving organisms, including animals, fungi, and plants, in their natural environment, leaning more towards observational than experimental methods of study. A person who studies natural history is cal ...

known for his study of grizzly bears.

Early life

Russell grew up in

Alberta Alberta is a Provinces and territories of Canada, province in Canada. It is a part of Western Canada and is one of the three Canadian Prairies, prairie provinces. Alberta is bordered by British Columbia to its west, Saskatchewan to its east, t ...

in the

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as the son of hunter, guide, film maker, and naturalist Andy Russell. Charlie and his three brothers learned about the wilderness from their father, assisting him as adventure guides and cameramen. His brothers went to college and became biologists, while Charlie became a rancher.

Career

Russell was fascinated by grizzly bears, trying to overcome their image as savage killers by making his cattle ranch open to grizzlies and leading ecotourists on bear-viewing trips (as opposed to hunting which had previously been the objective of grizzly tours). He tried, mostly unsuccessfully, to convince wildlife officials to treat bears with respect and trust, arguing that it is people's fear of bears and aggressive actions toward them that makes them dangerous. Russell is best known for his ten years of field work in

Kamchatka The Kamchatka Peninsula (, ) is a peninsula in the Russian Far East, with an area of about . The Pacific Ocean and the Sea of Okhotsk make up the peninsula's eastern and western coastlines, respectively. Immediately offshore along the Pacific ...

, where he taught local guides how to lead bear-viewing tours. He began to buy orphaned grizzly cubs from zoos, taking them into remote areas of Kamchatka and teaching them to be wild. He has been the subject of two television documentaries: ''Walking with Giants: The Grizzlies of Siberia'' (

PBS The Public Broadcasting Service (PBS) is an American public broadcaster and non-commercial, free-to-air television network based in Arlington, Virginia. PBS is a publicly funded nonprofit organization and the most prominent provider of educat ...

, 1999) and ''Bear Man of Kamchatka'' (

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, 2006).

Death

He died after complications from surgery at a hospital in

Calgary, Alberta Calgary () is a major city in the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Alberta. As of 2021, the city proper had a population of 1,306,784 and a Metropolitan area, metropolitan population of 1,481,806 making it the List of ...

, on May 7, 2018.

Bibliography

*''Spirit Bear: Encounters with the White Bear of the Western Rainforest'' *''Grizzly Heart: Living Without Fear Among the Brown Bears of Kamchatka'' *''Grizzly Seasons'' *''Learning to Be Wild: Raising Orphan Grizzlies''

References

External links

Charlie Russell's website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Russell, Charlie 1941 births 2018 deaths Canadian naturalists Writers from Alberta People from the Municipal District of Pincher Creek No. 9