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

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

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.

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

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

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:

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