Summer is a great time to be a little grizzly bear because the days are long and the air is sweet. Hibernation is a fading memory … the streams are running fast and clear … and other bears are out and about. Opportunities abound, allowing many bruins to be less possessive of precious resources than during other seasons. But, it’s also a time when cubs must stick close to their mothers. They need to learn how to find food, and how to avoid trouble. Danger lurks just around the corner for tiny bears -- and it finds two cubs -- 3000 miles apart -- when both lose their mothers during the first summer of their lives. Alaskan-born Max is found wandering alone, terrified, by fishermen on Unimak Island, so they trap him and take him to the Anchorage Zoo. Small Pepper becomes separated from her inexperienced mom, Felicia, in Grand Teton National Park, where both scientists and tourists watch the unfolding drama with horror. Grizzly cubs can’t survive without their mothers and must stay with them for several years in order to gain the skills necessary for independence. Without bear moms, both Max and Pepper face certain death, or that’s what most experts believe. Casey Anderson has rescued and raised a number of grizzlies in order to save their lives. After 25 years of diving deeper into “bear world” than most PhD’s ever have, Casey’s knowledge about grizzlies continues to grow. But … so have his questions about what’s really best for the bears ... and whether or not we’ve actually explored all of the options possible for orphaned cubs.
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