Eight Bears

Mythic Past and Imperiled Future

By: Gloria Dickie

Narrated by: Cassidy Brown

Length: 8 hrs and 40 mins

Publisher's summary

A global exploration of the eight remaining species of bears—and the dangers they face.

Bears have always held a central place in our collective memory, from Indigenous folklore and Greek mythology to nineteenth-century fairytales and the modern toy shop. But as humans and bears come into ever-closer contact, our relationship nears a tipping point. Today, most of the eight remaining bear species are threatened with extinction. Some, such as the panda bear and the polar bear, are icons of the natural world; others, such as the spectacled bear and the sloth bear, are far less known.

In Eight Bears, journalist Gloria Dickie embarks on a globe-trotting journey to explore each bear's story, whisking listeners from the cloud forests of the Andes to the ice floes of the Arctic; from the jungles of India to the backwoods of the Rocky Mountain West. She meets with key figures on the frontlines of modern conservation efforts—the head of a rescue center for sun and moon bears freed from bile farms, a biologist known as Papa Panda, who has led China's panda-breeding efforts for almost four decades, a conservationist retraining a military radar system to detect and track polar bears near towns—to reveal the unparalleled challenges bears face as they contend with a rapidly changing climate and encroaching human populations.

©2023 Gloria Dickie (P)2023 HighBridge, a division of Recorded Books

Really enjoyed!!!

I learned so much listening to this. Such an informative book. Well written and loved the narrator.

The truth of what we humans are doing and not doing.

I greatly enjoyed the story and insight on the eight bear species we have left on this earth. It was highly informative with facts that made you feel broken and those that made you feel hopeful. I was able to reflect on my relationship with bears and I didn’t realize I had so many fond memories with bears. I would recommend this book to anyone who enjoys the earth and the animals that live with us.

Fantastic!

I was astonished how little I knew about bears, especially the black bears in my backyard. Gloria did a phenomenal job articulating each bear, and why we as humans, should start caring. As someone who also lives in Boulder, I can attest to the increase in black bear sightings. As an OU alumni, I was happy to hear Gloria sited an Oakland University professor — I had no idea the in-depth research Michigan had on black bears. The most interesting thing I took away from Eight Bears, was that black bears have been proven to be more “intelligent” than gorillas. There really needs to be a documentary about the bears in Yosemite in the 60s-70s, that to me was not common knowledge, and it seemed Gloria just brushed the surface on what happened.

Great book

Great book not woke like someone said. Interesting stories about each bear. Great idea in it in itself to write about types of species. Maybe should be a series of other animals. Learned a lot from this book

As if a child , a very woke child, wrote this book

I will admit that I did not make it far into this book. And, I LOVE these kind of books. I have read many. Books like American Wolf, American Buffalo, Coyote America and American Serengeti. Some great, like American Serengeti, and some that are just okay, like American Wolf. So, I wanted to like it and my bar is not set very high. I consider even myself a naturalist. But, this... This is half-baked and a little all over the place from the start. In a few words: childish, hollowly sentimental and woke. I couldn't continue. The narrator isn't much better with a number of mispronunciations. I had to rewind to hear her call Canadian provinces, "Providences," just to punish myself again. The rest of the book could have been fantastic, but the first few courses were unappetizing.