Alaska's Bears

For more than three decades, Anchorage-based writer Bill Sherwonit has written extensively about wilderness, the natural history of animals and plants, wildlife management, connection to place, conservation issues, and notions of wildness. He’s contributed stories and photos to a wide variety of national publications and is the author of over a dozen books about Alaska, including To the Top of Denali and Animal Stories. He also teaches nature and travel writing in his adopted hometown of Anchorage. www.billsherwonit.alaskawriters.com.Tom Walker, a full-time freelance writer and photographer specializing in natural history and wildlife, is regarded as one of Alaska's premier nature photographers. His work has appeared in numerous national, local, and international publications. This award-winning photographer is active in local and national conservation issues. In 2002, Alaska's Governor appointed him to the Citizens Advisory Committee for the Alaska Interagency Kodiak Brown Bear Management Team and helped draft the first comprehensive brown bear management plan for the Kodiak Archipelago. www.tomwalkerphotography.com

“Sherwonit outlines why Alaska’s brown, black, and polar bears have more to fear from us than we do from them. He dishes out a bit of natural history on each species, and brief outlines on how you should behave when meeting a black, brown, or polar bear. Walker provides top-flight photography.”—Anchorage Daily News

• BEAR COUNTRY Map THE POLAR BEAR Home on the Ice Map A Diet of Seals Mothers and Their Dens Future of the Polar Bear THE BROWN BEAR/GRIZZLY BEAR Surviving Winter Life as a Cub Opportunistic Omnivores Social Life Future of the Brown Bear Tips for Traveling in Bear Country Is it a Brown Bear or a Black Bear? THE BLACK BEAR A Creature of the Forest Building Fat ReservesInto the Winter Den The Long Sleep The Young Bears Future of the Black BearVIEWING ALASKA’S BEARS Prime Viewing Sites SUGGESTED READING INDEX