The Bears of Brooks Falls

Wildlife and Survival on Alaska's Brooks River

By: Michael Fitz

Narrated by: John Pruden

Length: 9 hrs and 45 mins

Publisher's Summary

A natural history and celebration of the famous bears and salmon of Brooks River.

On the Alaska Peninsula, where exceptional landscapes are commonplace, a small river attracts attention far beyond its scale. Each year, from summer to early fall, brown bears and salmon gather at Brooks River to create one of North America's greatest wildlife spectacles. As the salmon leap from the cascade, dozens of bears are there to catch them (with as many as 43 bears sighted in a single day), and thousands of people come to watch in person or on the National Park Service's popular Brooks Falls Bearcam.

The Bears of Brooks Falls tells the story of this region and the bears that made it famous in three parts. The first forms an ecological history of the region, from its dormancy 30,000 years ago to the volcanic events that transformed it into the Valley of Ten Thousand Smokes. The central and longest section is a deep dive into the lives of the wildlife along the Brooks River, especially the bears and salmon. Listeners will learn about the bears' winter hibernation, mating season, hunting rituals, migration patterns, and their relationship with Alaska's changing environment. Finally, the book explores the human impact, both positive and negative, on this special region and its wild population.

©2021 Michael Fitz (P)2021 Tantor

A great grizzly read

I really enjoyed this book. Learning about the geology and history of Brooks Falls was very interesting. The author made you feel like you were visiting. I really liked the bear stories. I hope that the park will adjust its policies on tourism to better keep the bears as top priority. I'm not sure if I would like to visit and contribute to being an intrusion to the bears but it would be cool to be in all the action.