Among the Bears - Benjamin Kilham and Ed Gray

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Among the Bears

Raising Orphan Cubs in the Wild

Benjamin Kilham and Ed Gray

A John Macrae/Holt Paperbacks Book, March 2003
ISBN: 978-0-8050-7300-3, ISBN10: 0-8050-7300-0,
6 1/8 x 9 1/4 inches, 304 pages, Includes eight pages of color pictures,
Trade Paperback, $18.99

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Categories and Subcategories

See All Categories Environmental Studies & Nature Environmental Studies & Nature - All Titles

In the spring of 1993, Ben Kilham, a naturalist who lives in the woodlands of New Hampshire, began raising a pair of orphaned wild black bears. The experience changed his life, and while spending thousands of hours with the cubs, Kilham discovered unknown facets of bear behavior that have radically revised our understanding of the animal. Bears, as this important book notes, are altruistic and cooperate with unrelated—and even unknown individuals—while our closer relatives, the supposedly more highly evolved chimps, cooperate only within troops of recognizable members.

Now widely noted for its contributions to wildlife science, Kilham's work illustrates the powerful black bear intelligence that has survived bounties and overhunting to make the species North America's dominant omnivore. Kilham, who turned a disability, dyslexia, to his advantage as a naturalist, also offers fascinating insights into the emotional life of bears. And beyond the natural history, he introduces individual bears who become enthralling and memorable characters.

Praise

"An absorbing, often searing account of one of the world's most interesting animals, this wonderfully comprehensive account is a fitting tribute to the black bear, and also to its author, Ben Kilham, for his insight and dedication."—Elizabeth Marshall Thomas, author of The Social Lives of Dogs and The Tribe of Tiger

"Engrossing . . . Both an affecting story of interspecies friendship and a surprising refutation of ursine stereotypes. This important book is sure to be a milestone in the study of animal behavior."—Publishers Weekly

"The best book I have read about these subtle and intriguing creatures."—George B. Schaller, Wildlife Conservation Society

"An intuitive appreciation of young bear behavior, observed and gathered at ground level, from wildlife rehabilitator Kilham. The New Hampshire state wildlife department asked Kilham to adopt a couple of bear cubs six years ago. His work with those cubs, and a selection of other cubs from more recent vintages, are chronicled here. Kilham doesn't pose as an expert, and his writing is of the unvarnished variety, but he quickly and easily establishes himself as an observant individual who makes sensible comments upon the vast amount of fieldwork he has done . . . Kilham has got opinions about such traits as altruism ('thought by many to be solely a human trait,' but regarded by just as many as an established animal behavior), self-recognition, the use of tools, as well as everyday survival behavior such as food finding, all buttressed by copious direct observation . . . [This book reflects] the kind of primary research that leads to those rare insights that come to be known as understanding."—Kirkus Reviews

About the Author(s)

By Benjamin Kilham and Ed Gray

Benjamin Kilham is a woodsman and naturalist who over the past twenty-five years has discovered and then field-tested a new, exciting wildlife biology. He lives in Lyme, New Hampshire.

Ed Gray is a naturalist writer and founder of Gray's Sporting Journal. He also resides in Lyme, New Hampshire.

Book Ed Gray to speak at your next event

Excerpt

Excerpt from Among the Bears:

Because we had two females this time we needed names to distinguish them. We named one Curls for the curly hair on her forehead; the other, who was smaller, became Squirty. The boy we left at that—The Boy. Almost immediately they began to show not only their physically distinguishing marks, but their personalities as well. Within a month, while the cubs were still upstairs, The Boy began escaping from the pen and letting loose with a series of distress calls as soon as he found himself separated from his sisters, who would then try to join him.

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