Chris Morgan's Wildlife Blog

2011-04-24T22:47:00.000-07:00

Hi - thanks for visiting - here is my new site, with easy access to my new BLOG too! Lot's of cool things happening right now!

www.chrismorganwildlife.org

Cheers,

Chris

2009-01-05T18:26:00.000-08:00

Welcome to my old blog, please click here to check out my new one, along with Insight Wildlife Management's new website, and even information about the incredible brown bear trips that I guide to Alaska every year.

Some of my other activities:

Click here for the latest news about BEARTREK, the global campaign and movie for bear conservation.

Click here for news about the North Cascades Grizzly Bear Outreach Project (GBOP).

Thank you so much for your continued interest!

Chris
January 5th, 2009

2008-02-25T13:18:00.000-08:00

Special Presentation: REI Seattle, April 16th, 7pm. Admission free.

From Spitzbergen to Spain - bears of the North Cascades and beyond
Featuring Chris Morgan, bear biologist, director of the Grizzly Bear Outreach Project and Producer of the feature documentary BEARTREK

From Spitzbergen to Spain, bears have struck the human imagination for thousands of years. On our own doorstep, the North American grizzly bear has garnered its fair share of acclaiming folklore. From old campfire tales to the film, Grizzly Man, accounts of the grizzly’s power, strength and grace have inspired curiosity and fear. Come learn the truth about the elusive North Cascades grizzly bear as well as bears in wild locations like Spain, Canada, Pakistan, Ecuador, and Svalbard. REI is proud to welcome Chris Morgan, bear biologist, filmmaker, and director of the Grizzly Bear Outreach Project (GBOP). Chris will present a stunning, highly entertaining slide show demystifying the North Cascades grizzly bear, and it's cousins further afield. Morgan has worked internationally as a biologist and educator for the last twenty years and will share his expert knowledge on bear ecology and conservation. This will also be among the first opportunities to see footage from the feature-length documentary film 'BEARTREK' - a quest that that follows his global motorcycle adventure to the wildest places on the planet in search of unusual bear species and exotic cultures. In 2006, The Grizzly Bear Outreach Project received a grant from REI for their ongoing education efforts.

2007-10-29T13:05:00.000-07:00

Above image (c) Cede Prudente

Above image (c) Chris Morgan

Borneo shoot a roaring success!

October 29th, 2007
The Wildlife Media team is fresh back from filming BEARTREK in Borneo - leg two of our global motorcycle wildlife adventure. We spent an incredible month traveling in search of sun bears, orangutans, elephants and gibbons in the dense, tropical rainforest of Malaysia. We returned home with over 60 hours of footage including spectacular scenes of 'Chura' - a 10 month old orphaned bear cub who is being prepared for a life in the wild by our friend and colleague Siew Te Wong. BEARTREK will profile his incredible work for sun bear conservation as we paint a picture of this secretive bear species and it's amazingly biodiverse habitat. In addition to Chura (Malay for 'hope'), another highlight was tracking 87 wild Bornean pygmy elephants for several days. We obtained some spectacular footage and recordings as we moved among the herd just feet away.

Now to the editing - we will be combining footage from Katmai (Alaska) and Borneo into a 10-15 minute demo reel (no small task considering the amount of footage we have!). Then our fund-raising efforts shift into high gear as we prepare to film in Canada, Mongolia, India, and Peru in 2008. Through Wildlife Media's Global Bear Conservation Initiative (GBCI), 25% of our production budget (about $400,000) will be donated to several high priority bear conservation projects on the ground (including those we are profiling in the film). In addition, all profits from the sale of the film upon completion will be pumped directly back into bear conservation and to seed fund the next Wildlife Media campaign and production. To find out more click here. To make a donation, click here.

We'll be updating the BEARTREK website with images and clips soon - watch this space! In the meantime, a small sample of images: www.beartrek.org/news.htm

2007-10-14T18:46:00.000-07:00

A note from Borneo
October 15th, 2007
Well, here we are in Borneo - 3 weeks into our BEARTREK film shoot. This place is amazing. Right now I'm using my Blackberry phone to blog directly from the field. Its 620am here and we're on the river tracking bears, proboscis monkeys, orangs and elephants in cell range! In front of us are two bearded pigs - strange looking creatures that dwell in this damp tropocal rainforest. Overhead proboscis monkeys are jumping through the treetops anda along the river bank crocodiles and huge monitor lizards dart away. All these creatures are helping us to film this most complex of bear ecosystems. Which brings us to the star of the show - Chura - a 10 month old sun bear cub that is preparing for a life in the wild thanks to the work of my friend and colleague Siew Te Wong. She's the first of several orphan candidates that Wong is working with. We had an incredible time following her through the rainforests as she discovered new smells and sounds for the first time since her mother was killed and Chura taken captive by the poachers. It brought tears to my eyes watching her play in the forest - climbing vines and digging termites just like a wild bear would!

Another amazing experience has been following Borneo elephants with tracker Bert Joseph - his incredible skills brought us to within 20 feet of 87 elephants! A huge herd that was absolute magic to witness.

More soon.
Chris Morgan

2007-08-15T11:46:00.001-07:00

The BEARTREK adventure begins!
Well, just a few short days until the BEARTREK film crew departs for Alaska - we'll be there filming the big brown bears of the Katmai coast for a couple of weeks before heading off to Borneo and Siew Te Wong's sun bear project. We are all very excited indeed and want to thank the many people who have generously donated to this cutting edge conservation film and campaign. Of course, we're still fund-raising to pay for the remaining 4 BEARTREK film location in 2008 (Mongolia, Peru, Canada and India), and remember we are also helping to fund bear conservation globally through this project - if you would like to make a donation, please go to: http://www.beartrek.org/donate.htm

To read more about BEARTREK's destinations, go to http://www.beartrek.org/stories.htm

Many thanks also to our sponsors who have been wonderfully supportive and kind:

2007-06-04T21:21:00.000-07:00

Full summer ahead

It's shaping up to be a full summer of really interesting work. In early July I leave to guide two bear viewing trips to the famous Brooks River in Katmai National Park for TravelWild Expeditions. Later in July I'll be starting work on an exciting show for Discovery Channel about Alaska's wildlife and the effects of climate change. Then it's back to Katmai National Park - to the coast this time where I'll be escorting two groups of people into one of the most incredible environments in Alaska - one of my favorite places on earth among the giant brown bears during the peak of the salmon feeding frenzy (see www.insightwildlife.com/katmai.htm). The picture above was taken by my friend Chris Weston on this trip in 2005 (www.chrisweston.uk.com/). Here, at the beginning of September, we also start filming BEARTREK - a campaign and feature film about my journey to the wildest places on earth to discover bears and distant cultures (see www.BEARTREK.org). We continue our BEARTREK journey in September with a jolt to the senses as we descend on the tropical island of Borneo to track down and attempt to film the elusive sun bear. Then it's back to Alaska for more Discovery Channel adventures as winter takes a grip on the land. While at home I'm keeping very busy with the North Cascades Grizzly Bear Outreach Project (GBOP) and the incredible team of people that is working hard to bring information about bears to rural residents of this wild northwest landscape (see www.bearinfo.org/contact.htm).

Watch this space - I'll keep you posted as the story unfolds! Thanks for tuning in.

Chris

2007-04-25T22:40:00.000-07:00

BEARTREK filming to begin soon!
We recently took the exciting step of selecting the first two locations for our feature film BEARTREK (www.BEARTREK.org). This summer we head to the incredible and unique island of Borneo to film the sun bear in it's tropical rainforest habitat. We'll be joining bear biologist Siew Te Wong as he captures and tracks sun bears in some of the most difficult field conditions on earth. We'll also be filming orangutans, and hope to see Asian elephants! Read more about Siew Te Wong's work on his project website: http://www.borneanbearpigproject.org/. Following that we're heading to the coast of Alaska to film the beautiful brown bears of Katmai - one of the densest bear populations in the world and a place that I guide trips to every year. We'll be filming during the peak of the salmon run which means lots of bear action! At this point it looks like filming locations in 2008 will include India, Mongolia, Canada, and Peru.

Our fund-raising continues - please consider making a donation to help gobal bear conservation through BEARTREK, and a big thank you to the many people who already have!

For the story of how BEARTREK got started, click here: www.BEARTREK.org/story1.htm

2007-01-02T10:56:00.000-08:00

A happy new year for polar bears?

Did you know that polar bears are very closely related to grizzly bears? They have evolved from brown/grizzly bears only over the last 250,000 years to become one of the most perfectly adapted creatures on the planet.

I guide expeditions to the far north each year to the Norwegian arctic islands of Svalbard - just 600 miles from the north pole (I'm holding the skull of a polar bear above - probably killed by another bear). Svalbard has an incredible landscape - surely one of the most beautiful in the world. But the most special thing about this isolated jewel is the population of polar bears that call it home. We generally see up to forty polar bears during each 10 day expedition, many of them hunting for ringed and bearded seals on the last remaining ice of the summer months.

2006 saw a surprising lack of summer ice - in fact, the pack was 100 miles further north than an average year, which meant that bears were more densely gathered around the few remaining sections of fast ice. It was a blunt reminder of the effects of climate change. I photographed the female and cubs below as they hunted seals on a quickly-shrinking piece of ice. Polar bears can not hunt successfully without ice - access to the prized ring seals generally happens in one of two ways - lying in wait over a seal's breathing hole, or stalking across the ice in a surprise attack. Once the winter ice has disappeared the bears have no option but to rest up and conserve as much energy as possible until the winter months bring back their icy hunting substrate.

Climate change is warming the arctic environment at an unprecedented rate meaning that the period of ice-free months is lengthening. This puts incredible strain on the metabolism of a polar bear that is waiting for a meal. Incredibly, they can go for months without eating a seal, but as the days grow warmer, the polar bears are increasingly affected. For example, research by Dr Ian Stirling and Dr Nick Lunn in Hudson Bay has shown that for every additional week that a polar bear is land locked (away from the hunting substrate of the ice) it is 10 kilograms (22 pounds) lighter! In December 2006, the US Fish and Wildlife Service proposed to add polar bears as threratened on the Endangered Species Act - a great step in the right direction. Let's hope that it will help secure a future for this incredible species.

2006-11-28T12:07:00.000-08:00

Job announcement

I'm the Co-Director of the very successful North Cascades Grizzly Bear Outreach Project (GBOP) here in Washington State. The project brings accurate information about grizzly bear ecology, behavior and recovery to rural communities in the North Cascades. We have fewer than 20 grizzly bears remaining in this 10,000 ecosystem, so most people know very little about them. We're looking for an educator to join our team to represent GBOP along the I-90 corridor (Issaquah to Liberty), based out of North Bend. Click here for more information about this exciting opportunity. Photo courtesy of John Wright. John took this photograph of a brown/grizzly bear during one of my Alaskan bear viewing trips in 2005. Thank you John.

2006-11-24T15:05:00.000-08:00

Join me in the Scottish Highlands!
I'll be escorting a group of 12 people to one of the wildest places in western Europe in June 2007. We developed this trip to combine a beautiful blend of Scottish wilderness and culture. Click here to find out more about the trip, and the incredible wildlife conservation plans for this magic part of the world. We hope you can join us!

2006-11-13T15:53:00.000-08:00

REI Seattle presentation
I'll be giving a presentation about my bear work at Seattle REI on January 25th, 2007. Click here for more details.

2006-11-13T14:46:00.000-08:00

BEARTREK, the movie, takes shape
As many of you know, wildlife cinematographer Joe Pontecorvo and I have been working on the development of a feature film and campaign about the bears of the world called BEARTREK. The plan to make BEARTREK a reality has come a long way over the last few months. Generous contributions from 30 private donors, one very significant financial committment from our friend John Taylor, and incredibly insightful guidance from Jim Lewis, Bob Yellowlees, and Chris Palmer (Executive Producer) has meant that filming will begin in 2007. But this bear conservation project still needs your help - click here to donate.

BEARTREK is an around-the-world adventure that follows my motorcycle trip to some of the planet's wildest corners. Some of the 5 or 6 locations we're currently considering include Alaska, Mongolia, Borneo, India, Peru, Spitsbergen, and Canada - places where incredible stories can be told - about bears, and about those people who've devoted their lives to studying them. It's also about the colorful human cultures that surround bear habitat too. Here, the journey becomes the story too.

BEARTREK is going to break the mold. First of all, it's a non-profit project - all for the benefit of conservation. In fact, in addition to the film production costs we're raising, we are also generating dollars for the bear conservation, research, and education projects that will be featured in the film. All profits will also be pumped right back into conservation.

It's a grand plan, and only the big screen can accommodate such an epic story! For more information, or to make a tax-deductible donation see our website at: www.BEARTREK.org or Click here for a 2 page (1.5mb) pdf about BEARTREK

For a quick account of how BEARTREK evolved, click here.

Thanks to all those who have supported this project!

2006-11-13T11:53:00.000-08:00

A year of travel
It's been quite the year of travel for me due to some wonderful wildlife guiding opportunities I was asked to take. It started with Argentina, the Falklands, South Georgia and Antarctica in February, then came the yearly Spitsbergen trip to show people polar bears in the high arctic of Europe, followed by my Alaska brown bear expedition (http://www.insightwildlife.com/katmai.htm) - all incredibly successful trips.

In October I headed to Japan for a conference about bear research and management and an opportunity to meet with fellow bear biologists about BEARTREK - the movie we are working on about bears of the world (www.BEARTREK.org). By the way, for anyone interested in an incredible guided trip to Japan, see this link to my friend's website - he runs a first class operation to some of Japan's wildlife and cultural hotspots. Following the Japan conference, there were more BEARTREK planning meetings in Thailand where we finalized a plan of action for location shoots, and talked in detail about the exciting new conservation organization we'll be starting (under which BEARTREK will be managed).

And just last week I got home from Scotland where I was checking out plans to bring boar, moose, wolves, and ultimately bears, back to an enclosed section of the wild Scottish Highlands. I'm planning to take a small group of people there in June 2007 to experience the wilderness and culture of Scotland during what should be the trip of a lifetime - all from the comfort of a luxury Highland lodge (www.alladale.com)! I'll be posting information to my website about the trip soon.

Watch this space for more news of my activities and how you can help global wildlife conservation! Thanks for checking in. Remember, the Insight web address is: www.insightwildlife.com