Autumn The Bear Family and Me

The American black bear...

..has a reputation for being unpredictable...

BEAR GROWLS

..and dangerous.

(Maybe I'll just sit back down!)

'I'm Gordon Buchanan.

'I've filmed many of the world's dangerous animals...

'from a distance.'

I just would never have believed that I'd get this close.

'But getting this close has changed my feelings about bears...forever.'

You're so strong! You are so strong!

'I've spent spring and summer following the dramas of a family of bears.

'Now it's autumn, they face a new threat.'

From the youngest through to the oldest, none of these bears are safe.

'This time, I'm no longer just a cameraman.

'I'm a bodyguard.'

Have a look at this, look!

That's a hunter's jacket!

'Now, we could all be in the line of fire.'

GUNSHOT

'I've returned to the American state of Minnesota.

'This spectacular wilderness

'is THE best place in the world

'to film black bears in the wild.'

'In the run-up to hibernation,

'there's an extra sense of urgency in the air.

'I want to see how bears get ready for the long winter ahead.

'But first, I want to catch up with one of my favourites - Lily.'

Hey, Lily!

Hey, bear!

'Lily is one of 12 bears in this forest that are wearing radio-tracking collars.'

Gosh, she must be pretty close, actually.

If I manage to find Lily,

this'll be the first time I've seen her in a very long while.

She'll have changed a bit, because the summer's worn on,

and she's been feeding on a lot of berries through the forest.

She's really close. Right, I'm going to start walking in here,

see if we can find her.

Hey, bear.

'When I first met Lily back in the spring, she seemed like a devoted mother.

'Her first cub, Hope, was only just out of the den.

'But in May, Lily abandoned her.'

BEAR CUB WHIMPERS

'Hope could have been left to starve or taken into captivity,

'but the biologists I'm working with

'decided to try and help her survive in the wild.

'This feisty little cub won me over,

'as she faced up to life without her mum.'

I think she's off in here. We'll go through here.

Oh.

'Lily's lived apart from her cub all summer,

'but now the signals from both their radio collars

'are coming from the same neck of the woods.'

Hey, bear.

'I want to see what's going on.'

Hey, Lily!

I nearly bumped right into you.

I nearly bumped right into you, bear.

Hey, Lily, it's good to see you!

Do you remember me?

Do you remember me?

She's looking...

a lot healthier than the last time I saw her.

I can tell she's been eating... Hope, that's not you, is it?!

Good Lord!

Hello, Hope!

'While I've been away, Hope has got back with her mum.'

I can't believe that!

'When I last saw her,

'she was struggling to find enough to eat and she was terrified.'

Wow!

Hope, you look like a proper bear!

She looks different, she's behaving differently.

You know, trying to get close to this cub

was impossible last time I was here.

'Their reunion has transformed her.'

I don't really know what to think. She's...completely different.

'I've no idea how they found each other,

'but Hope seems to be enjoying life as a carefree cub again.'

Why is it I'm feeling scared again?

I think it's just kind of a shock to the system.

You fly halfway across the world, back in the Northwoods of Minnesota,

and suddenly there's a black bear walking up to you very boldly.

It kind of, yeah, sets your nerves on edge a little bit.

'These study bears only allow me to approach

'because of the food that I've brought.

'Once I show them it's gone, with a hand signal,

'they should let me follow them for the rest of the day.'

OK, and they're done. I'm walking out, so just ignore me.

Hope, ignore me!

'Now I see the weeks spent alone have taken their toll on Hope.

'She's much smaller than she should be.

'If she goes into hibernation underweight,

'she might not survive the winter.

'I'm really worried she won't be able to make up for lost time.'

Bit of feeding going on here.

Amazing thing about these animals -

they can find food just about anywhere.

'Tasty grubs in rotting logs don't stay hidden for long.'

Really powerful,

just the way that she's raking that bark apart with her claws.

'Even so, Lily's got her work cut out.

'I'll be watching closely to see whether she can get Hope back on track.

'As food peters out, Lily and Hope will have to scour

'their whole territory to find enough to eat.

'There's nowhere else to go.

'Every neighbouring patch of forest is claimed by other bears.

'Lily's aunt, Juliet, lives right next door.'

Hey, bear.

Not too far... Hello...

Hey, bear!

'Juliet's cubs are exactly the same age as Hope.'

Hey, bear.

'They might tell me more about Hope's chances of catching up.'

Hey, bear.

Oh, they've all gone. OK, I need to...

..put my foot on the gas a little bit.

'All the bears need to stock up for winter,

'so they're constantly on the move.

'Filming them has never been harder.'

Holy moly!

'Juliet is way more camera-shy than Lily

'and doesn't like me getting too close.'

Gone way ahead! Come on, guys! Hold up!

I'm not Superman.

'While working their territory for food,

'Juliet's family can cover ten miles a day.'

Not so much walking with bears as running after them.

See if I can just catch up, cos this is no use.

This distance is pretty bad.

'Finally, they slow down, and I get a better look at the cubs.

'Juliet is older and heavier than Lily, so she produces more milk.

'Her cubs are already bigger and stronger than Hope.'

Hey, bear!

'Juliet is right on the edge of her territory.

'She's been checking whether it's safe to go on.

'And now, I can see why she's heading this way.'

Hey, bear!

A-ha! I can see these bears and I can also see Charlie.

This is just the edge of Charlie's property.

He's a big friend of the bears.

'Bears are cautious around people,

'but if they're hungry, they'll overcome their fear.

'Juliet's learned she can help her cubs fatten up more quickly -

'and safely - with a helping hand from Charlie.'

Hey, Charlie!

-How's it going?

-Good.

-Good to see you!

-How about yourself?

-Yeah. Good.

Gosh, it's amazing how fast they grow.

-Well, they eat like pigs.

-Yeah.

The last time I saw them, they were still...

Well, they were still cubs, but they were much, much smaller.

Hello!

Is this one bolder than the others? Can you tell them apart?

I can't.

Hey, bear!

Hey, do you remember me? Course you don't.

'Charlie lives in the remote community of Eagles Nest.

'He's one of ten households here who regularly feed bears.

'There is no other place in the world

'where people are this tolerant of them.'

What were your views of bears before you moved here?

-Oh, we were afraid of them.

-Yeah?

Yeah. Well, we always heard all the horror stories.

We were afraid of them, but we slowly learned.

Now it's one big party!

There are still people living in Eagles Nest community

that have had the same opinion of bears

that you had when you first moved here.

Yes, and it's funny. Some of them have lived here all their life.

Born and raised here, and they're still terrified.

-Really?

-Crazy!

'As people move ever deeper into bear country,

'they must deal with living alongside these large, wild animals.'

GLASS SHATTERS

'Bears will resort to smash and grab if they're starving.

'Many people think feeding bears creates nuisance bears.

'But that hasn't happened in Eagles Nest.

'Because some people leave out food,

'the bears never get desperately hungry.

'There are fewer problem bears here than anywhere else in America.

'Bears won't turn down a free lunch,

'but they prefer to roam far and wide in search of wild food.

'And they need to be out there, patrolling their territory,

'to defend it from other bears.

'That's why Lily and Hope are often hard to track down.'

'When I eventually do catch up with them,

'it's fun to try and work out what they've been up to.'

Hey, Hope, I didn't realise you were actually there!

This is where they slept last night, I'm pretty sure of that.

If you look around here, all that grass has been bedded down -

there's a nice dry spot there.

They haven't moved far.

The sun's been up for about three hours. They haven't gone anywhere.

'Black bears are expert tree climbers.'

Are you being lazy?

'Most of the time.'

Are you being lazy?

'Sometimes they go up tall trees to get a better view.

'But I don't understand why they haven't come back down.'

Both bears are in the tree. Hope's up above,

and Lily is just a few metres off the ground.

I'm not sure what they're doing.

'Lily seems worried about something.'

I thought I could hear another bear there.

RUSTLING

There is! There's another bear!

Hmm.

Now, have they gone up this tree because they don't like this bear

or have they gone up the tree to get a better view

and maybe try and figure out who it is before they get too close?

It's quite interesting. Let's see what happens.

Where is that other bear? Still there.

I'm going to have to try and stay close.

OK, let's go.

'Lily decides to challenge the intruder.

'Hope stays well clear.

'It's a young female, even younger than Lily.'

Is she going to chase it away?

Definitely. You can see it's making Lily very nervous.

'Lily's territory is only big enough to support her and Hope.'

Oh, gosh, I just can't see.

LILY EXHALES

'She can't give up any ground.'

LILY GROWLS

Lily's not happy.

That's not friendly sounds, and she's seen one off.

Trying to film it, but it's just too thick in here.

'Now that the intruder's gone,

'Hope seeks out her mum for reassurance.'

Here comes Hope.

'Lily is back to being a devoted mum.

'Because she was separated from Hope for so long,

'I thought her milk would have dried up.

'But her milk has returned

'now that Hope's started suckling again.

'And she's really making the most of it.'

This is something I didn't expect to see again.

I didn't expect to see them back together,

let alone nursing quite happily.

'In fact, they seem closer than ever.

'Hope doesn't have brothers and sisters,

'so Lily has to be chief playmate too.'

This is really nice to see, because,

for a long time,

Hope had no-one to play with.

That's one thing I felt most sorry about for her,

was that she was all on her own. She didn't...

have any company, anyone to look out for her.

Ignore me, that's what you're supposed to do.

Ignore me!

Ignore me!

Get away!

Part of me, I just want to pick her up and give her a big cuddle.

No!

This is really nice,

but it's not what I want.

I really do want her to pretend I'm not here,

because, after all, I'm here to get natural behaviour,

and sitting, shaking hands with a bear cub isn't really natural.

You're so strong! You are so strong!

Gosh!

Get!

Stop it!

Stop it!

See what's happened

is that her mum's got bored of her playing with her,

and I think there's a big part of Hope just thinks,

"Hey, these people that keep on following me around,

"maybe I can have fun with them."

She's not...

She's not after food, she just wants to play,

but you're not supposed to play with people...

definitely not supposed to play with people. Go.

Get whacked here!

'Lily comes over to see what all the fuss is about.

'Bears yawn when they're anxious.'

LILY SNORTS

'Time to back off.'

GORDON HUMS

'Lily has an even smarter way of telling me that she's had enough.

'She leads me straight back to my car.'

Weird!

Look!

Right, the plan is,

we're going to sell this vehicle at the end of the shoot,

and if it's got big scratch marks on the bonnet, guys,

we're not going to get as much, so please have a bit of respect.

Yeah. I was talking to you.

Hope, you ratbag!

Just cos your mum does it, doesn't mean to say you should.

Oh, well.

GORDON LAUGHS

I think she wants to get rid of me, so I'm going to go.

'But leaving Lily's territory, I spot another of the study bears.'

There's always one lurking about

that you don't even know that's there.

Hey, bear, who are you?

Hey, bear.

Now...we have met before.

We have met.

'This might be Sarah. Is she the young bear Lily chased off earlier?'

No, no, no.

OK.

'All the study bears I've met

'will remember my smell and are happy to say hello.'

Back off.

'They're spooked by people they don't recognise.'

I'll be interested if this bear disappears.

See how nervous it is? Off you go!

'I'm glad she's so wary.

'In two weeks' time,

'most of the strangers in this forest will be bear hunters.

'In the local hunting store,

'I see exactly what our bears will be up against.

'Hunting bears is legal in Minnesota.

'In fact, it's so popular,

'the state runs a lottery for permits to shoot them.'

There's enough guns in here to start a revolution.

There's shotguns, machine guns, handguns, rifles,

guns for shooting birds, guns for shooting bears...

guns for shooting fish, guns for kids, guns for women.

If I looked hard enough, there'd probably be a gun for a baby.

It's just such a weird cultural thing for me to come into a shop

where all this weaponry is on show.

'The state asks hunters not to shoot radio-collared bears.

'But it's not illegal.'

OK. Here.

'Every autumn, Dr Lynn Rogers

'worries about losing his research animals.'

The hunting season is the time of year we dread all year long.

Every time we're with a bear, we think this could be the last time.

Will it get through another season? Can we make plans for the future?

And every shot we hear, just... we feel it deep inside of us.

'Lynn and his assistant, Sue Mansfield, tie on Day-Glo ribbons,

'so hunters can clearly see these are research bears.'

Lynn's doing everything he can on radio and in press

to just sort of educate the public

and educate the hunters about his study bears.

But no matter what he does, at the end of the day, um,

these bears aren't legally protected,

and any one of them could get shot.

'Bear hunting does go back a long way

'and it's not something I understand.

'I want to find out why people do it.

'I'm visiting local hunter Dave Brotten and his family.'

Is that the doorbell? Jeez, it is!

DOORBELL RINGS A bear trap.

-Dave?

-Come on in.

-Gordon.

-Nice to meet you, Gordon.

Hi.

Gordon, this is my wife, Joan, my son, Dean.

How are you doing?

Wow! This is just like my house at home(!)

DAVE LAUGHS

-So are all these animals you've shot?

-Yes.

-Moose. Is that white...?

-That's white-tailed deer.

-Bear.

-Deano shot that one.

Oh, did you?

That bear was trying to break into my mother-in-law's house.

-What, this one was?

-It was a nuisance bear.

It kept coming in and breaking through the screen door,

and they were afraid, so...

-Yeah.

-They had to take care of him.

So how did you get into hunting?

Well, my family...my father,

he would take us hunting when we were really young.

We'd go to school in the morning,

sometimes we'd take a gun, we'd hunt on the way.

-We could put a gun right in our locker in school.

-Really?

You know, what you're describing isn't a hobby or a choice -

it's just a way of life for you.

We live in a small community,

but you step out your back door and you can hunt.

You must have a pretty full refrigerator.

Yes - bear meat, deer meat.

-Do you want to try some?

-Some bear meat?

Some bear burger?

MEAT SIZZLES

'I didn't realise that people ate bear meat.'

Hey, guys! Come on, get a burger!

-Try it out, Gordon.

-Let's see.

It's pretty delicious.

The truth is, and I'm not being polite,

this is one of the best burgers I've ever eaten.

'Regardless of the taste, I could never shoot a bear myself.

'I wonder how Dave would feel

'if he were to try my way of looking at bears.

'Maybe I should introduce him to one.'

'Juliet and her family have no idea

'hunting season is just round the corner.

'All they're thinking about is food.

'These days, the cubs are one step ahead of their mum.'

'By following them over the year, I've seen Juliet's youngsters

'develop a mental map of their territory.

'They've learnt how to find over 100 different edible plants and insects,

'as they come in and out of season.

'Right now, the cubs are devouring dogwood berries.

'But these berries are so teensy, Juliet can't be bothered.'

These cubs haven't grown to this size on milk alone.

They'll be doing a lot of foraging.

At the moment, for Juliet and for these three cubs,

they're just eating machines -

they will eat as often and as much as they can.

But it's amazing to see the change that has taken place

since I've been away in these cubs - they're enormous now.

They look like proper bears, and all of that weight and size

has just been built off the back of tiny, little things -

things like ants, seeds, berries, all these tiny things -

eaten in vast quantities.

'Hope's still struggling to catch up.

'It means she and Lily will have to stay out in the open longer, feeding,

'and that will make them more exposed to hunters.

'Lily looks like she'd prefer to be digging their den right now.'

'Because Juliet's cubs are further along,

'Juliet can throw herself into it.'

'I've never seen a bear den before.

'And Lynn's told me there's one near here.'

And I think that's the den over there.

'I'm not entirely comfortable with this.

'You never know who might be in.'

Anybody at home?

Let me just get down on my belly.

Oh, God, this just... it kind of feels intrinsically wrong.

Oh, gosh!

Oh, man, you would not want a bear sneaking up behind you at this point.

You know, it's actually really narrow -

much more narrow than I expected.

In fact, it's very long... like a six-foot channel.

There's just not much room for manoeuvre.

I can't put my hands out to the side. Oh, gosh.

'In here, a female might give birth to four cubs.

'In the freezing winter, cramped at least means cosy.'

You'll never guess what's in there.

There's...

three bowls of porridge -

one big one, one medium one and one tiny one.

I think I'm going to eat them.

'Time is running out for Hope to reach a safe denning weight.'

BEARS GROWL

'Lily clearly thinks this isn't the moment for fun and games.'

BEARS GROWL

'As a first-time mum, Lily hasn't always delivered.

'Now she's everything a mum should be...

'..even creating a small hollow in wet ground for clean water to seep in -

'a drink for Hope.'

'Moments like this remind me

'how much we're still learning from these bears.

'But from tomorrow, it could all be blown away.'

'Hunting season has begun.

'Lily and Hope have become so important to me,

'I've decided to help Lynn keep them safe.'

I've just found out there are hunters in the area,

so I'm heading over to see Lynn and Sue

to see if I can get more information.

They are right in here. Right exactly there

is where four bears have been shot so far,

and that's where Lily and Hope are.

So actually in...

God, they go there all the time!

Yeah, I know it, yeah.

There is a law against shooting a research bear

-if a researcher is accompanying it...

-Yep.

-..and you identify to the hunter that it is a research bear.

-Yep.

'There aren't enough of us to protect all the collared bears.

'Lynn will walk with Juliet and her cubs.

'I'll be with Lily and Hope.

'That puts me in the firing line.

'Hundreds of people have been accidentally killed by hunters,

'so a bullet-proof vest is a must.'

Hey, bear!

Oh, here we go. Look.

Hey, Hope! Hope's up a tree right in front.

OK. Lily...where is she?

'Lily appears but immediately climbs a tree.

'She might be trying to identify scent from a long way off.

'There are many new smells to worry about.'

It does make me really nervous,

the fact that there are hunters in this area.

We think we've got a hunter's camp within a mile of here,

and a hunter's camp is always going to be very close

to where the hunter's going to try and shoot a bear.

Hey, Lily! Hey, girl!

'But today, Lily has got bears, rather than bear hunters, on her mind.'

Look at her scent-marking there!

Right over the top of that.

I wonder if you could actually smell any of that.

Obviously, it's designed for bears, not designed for me.

There is. There is quite a beary smell on this branch.

Maybe I'm turning into a bear!

I don't know why they're doing all this.

There's a lot more sniffing, clawing, scent-marking going on.

She'll probably do it again. Look.

Look. Scent-marking.

'Lily is leaving messages which tell bears this area belongs to her.'

UNDERGROWTH RUSTLES

Come on.

You can go past. On you go.

It's not human walking - it's bear walking.

'This is why they are such great study bears.

'I'm treated like part of the family

'and get to see things no-one else would.'

She's probably smelling some other bear.

At some point in the past, another bear has probably done exactly that.

Just walked up here...

..rubbed its face.

Oh, gosh! Look at this!

Ha!

That wasn't Lily that did that.

Some other bear's rubbed its face on this tree, and there's nothing that...

SNIFFS

I just smell tree, but for a bear, that's probably going to be one

of the most overpowering things it can ever smell,

the smell of another bear.

'I realise Lily has caught up with the intruder.'

Oh, look, just...ran off.

OK, it's a collared bear - you can see the hunter's tags on it.

'I think it's Sarah again.'

OK, let's see what happens.

'Sarah must be hungry if she's testing Lily for a second time.'

Is she going to chase it away?

BEAR GROWLS

Did you see that?

Ha!

'Suddenly I hear what we've all been dreading.'

Gunshots off there.

OK. I think it must be target practice.

At least I hope it is.

It's a bit worrying to hear that. It's just a little reminder

that there are people in the woods with guns.

'Further along the trail, I find something really troubling.'

What's that?

Hang on, this all looks recent. Look.

Hey, Lily.

OK. Well, that's a hunter's jacket.

Erm...

I wonder if she knows what that is. Probably not.

'Hunters shoot bears from tree stands like this.

'The quicker Lily and Hope den, the happier I'll be.'

Hey, Lily.

We're getting closer towards sunset.

Although I'm managing to keep up with her,

I'll have to turn back and find the road at some point,

cos I can't follow her all night.

The good thing is hunters can't shoot at night-time either.

Hey.

And the other thing that's happened is all this bear walking

has taken a serious toll on my trousers.

Don't go too close on this.

If I went into town, I'd probably be arrested.

LAUGHS

'Today has made me realise

'Lily and Hope live in a particularly dangerous spot.

'Bears living far from traditional hunting trails

'are less likely to become targets.

'As a result, some have reached a ripe old age.'

Hey, bear.

'The best place to see one of these survivors is Lynn's cabin.'

He is enormous - I was just looking at his big fat belly,

-so that's going to see him through the winter.

-Yep.

'One-eyed Jack is a regular visitor.

'For all his 300 kilograms, he is surprisingly gentle.

He's such a nice bear. I mean, these big...these big bears

tend to be the most confident, the most gentle, the most trustworthy,

all contrary to what a person would think.

'Sadly, even gentle giants like Jack are wounded by humans.'

This hole in his back is very interesting.

You see that, Gordon?

You can put your hand right in it.

Any idea what caused that?

I don't, I don't.

But the thing that I do know what happened...see that blind eye?

-Yeah.

-Somebody intentionally shot him in the face.

To scare him off?

He said, "That impudent bear had the gall to look at me.

"He was eating dandelions in my neighbour's yard

"and he looked at me."

But it just tells me there's such a need

to replace misconceptions about bears with facts.

'It's unforgettable being close to a bear of Jack's size.

'Lynn wishes people could just see bears as they really are.'

'Every morning, I worry for Lily and Hope.

'But today they are in the remotest and safest part of their home.

'It's a good time to find out

'whether they are any closer to denning.

'Lynn has told me how to do it.

'All I need is a stethoscope and a consenting bear.'

I'm heading in to try and find Lily and Hope

with the specific aim of trying to get their heart rates.

When they get close to the denning period,

everything starts to slow down,

and if I can get a heart rate reading from both of them,

we'll maybe be able to tell how close they are to denning.

Hey, bear!

Hey, Hope!

This is going to be a laugh.

Welcome to my surgery.

We're going to put all these on the ground.

That's going to keep you really busy.

Get them out the way.

OK, just slip off your trousers

and hop up onto the couch.

In a nutshell, this is the agreement you have with these bears -

a little bit of food for human company -

and this is where we start crossing the line.

You're giving the animal some food,

and then it's doing something you're not that comfortable with.

HOPE MOANS

I think I'm going to give up on Hope.

OK, Lily.

If we can find out that these bears are close to denning,

it means we can wipe the sweat from our brow a little bit,

because it means if she's in a den, she's not going to get hunted.

Ah...

She's too furry!

There's a big, thick thatch of fur that you've got to get through. Pants!

This is something I thought was absolutely insane

when I saw Lynn doing it for the first time,

and here I am.

Well, I'm trying to do it.

OK.

I can confirm this bear is alive,

but I can't tell you how close to denning it is.

'By mid-September, the pulse of the Northwoods is slowing down.

'Winter frosts have arrived,

'and bears are beginning to go underground.

'First to go are the pregnant females.

'Their hearts have slowed by a quarter.

'Their last act is to collect warm bedding.

'When the cubs are born in January, they'll need this extra insulation.'

'It's a relief to see bears making themselves safe from hunters.

'So far, we haven't lost a single study bear...

'..until now.'

I got a call this morning soon as I got up from Sue

saying that a radio collar from a bear had been shoved in

through the letterbox of the Department of Natural Resources

in town here, anonymously.

We don't know who the bear is, we don't know who shot the bear,

we know nothing, so I'm following Lynn and Sue down

just to hopefully find out what's gone on.

But it's not...

A bear's been shot.

'What we do know is that hunters are still in the area

'where we last saw Lily and Hope.'

I'm not going to go in here with Lynn and Sue -

they're going to go in, I'll wait outside.

It's Sarah.

-Yeah?

-Yeah. And they pulled all the ribbons off.

Where was she?

He said he didn't know,

and it was turned in anonymously over the weekend.

Sue, for you as a scientist, how much of a scientist do you feel today?

SHE LAUGHS

I feel like crap.

It's so hard to understand the way they think.

Yeah, yeah.

What's the life expectancy for a bear without hunting?

30...20 or 30.

With hunting?

Two, three - typical.

'The research bears tend to live much longer than other bears.

'Sarah was unlucky.

'Lynn's study is the only one

'in which individual bears can be tracked in such detail.

'He's known some of the bears here for decades.

'The loss of any of them must be a blow.'

'In Minnesota, bear-hunting is a fact of life.

'But with 20,000 bears across the state,

'I'm amazed some guy has chosen to shoot a collared bear.

'I wonder whether a hunter would think differently

'if they could see what I've seen.

'One of the few brave enough to meet a bear face to face without a gun

'is the guy who served me up a bear burger - Dave Brotten.

'Dave has agreed to join me on a visit to Lily and Hope.'

Hey, bear!

How are you feeling? Do you feeling nervous at all?

Yeah.

The first time I came in, I did this alone

and I was verging on being terrified.

There's not a lot of branches here to climb.

Don't worry, just stand behind me.

OK, she's this way, so just move forward.

Hey, bear!

'Dave's been hunting in these woods most of his life.'

This is Hope.

'But he's never been this close to a live bear before.

'Because Lily and Hope know me, they're prepared to trust Dave.'

Hey, bear.

Yeah, so this is a cub who was abandoned by her mum,

so you can see that she's interested in one thing.

Put these down,

there we go.

Where's your mum?

Her mum'll be fairly close by.

Here it comes, right there.

Is she there?

That one's a little bigger one.

I mean, if you don't want to be this close, stay behind me.

I mean, really, she's the one you've got to look out for,

because she's a bit more boisterous.

I've seen plenty of bears, but not quite this close.

Is this at all what you'd expected it to be like?

Kinda, yeah.

But it's still in my comfort range right now.

The one thing I've learnt in this year

is that these animals will do anything to avoid conflict

and physical confrontation.

Sure.

Most bears do, it's that one chance, and you do hear them.

'I think I can get Dave even further out of his comfort zone.'

You said you weren't going to feed it. Do you want to try?

OK, hang on.

I need that finger tomorrow.

Don't blame me if you can never shoot another bear again, don't blame me.

'Most hunters I've met are scared of bears, like I was.

'I hope Lily and Hope have shown Dave

'there's not much to be frightened of.'

Can't beat this, perfect night.

Are you glad you came out?

Yeah, I am, but you just don't get a chance to see 'em like this.

Apprehensive at first, but this is good.

'Dave's one of the good guys. He'd never shoot a collared bear.

'I can't imagine anyone not being charmed by these two.'

'Lynn wants to check Hope's progress,

'so today I'm keeping an eye on Juliet's family.

'Juliet's cubs are still hoovering up grubs

'and searching for other insects.

'But their mum is stripping alder.

'Bears begin eating these bitter leaves

'only when they are ready to den.

'We don't know why.'

'I have learnt, over the year, that each bear has its own personality.'

'Juliet is twitchier than most.

'She tolerates me but only at arm's length.'

OK. They're eating ferns on the other side of the tree,

but I just can't move close enough to see what's going on,

so I'm going to have to risk spooking them, but here goes.

'If I cross the line, Juliet always lets me know.'

That was a biggy.

(Maybe I'll just sit back down.)

'Black bear charges are rarely anything but bluster.

'She was simply telling me to back off.

'Juliet's cubs are very different.'

OK, I've got a bear...

I'll show you how close it is.

There you go.

Too close.

Too close, too close.

'The cubs are getting a bit too cheeky.'

(Stop it!)

'I've fallen in love with these bears.'

'Every day feels as magical as the first time we met.'

'These are my last moments with Juliet's family.

'They've crossed into the state park where hunting isn't allowed.

'They're going to be safe.'

'Lily and Hope aren't out of the woods yet.

'Every day I cross my fingers that Lily is ready to go underground.'

Hey, Lily! Where is she?

'Hope is certainly looking sturdier.'

Hey, Hope.

Hey, Lily!

I really want to see if she's got any mud on her nose,

anything that indicates that she might have started denning...

round about here, maybe it's a good place.

It's not a million miles away from where she denned last year

and where Hope was born.

Oh, look, she's got mud on her neck there!

'Lily has been digging for real.

'Maybe she senses Hope is fat enough to last the winter.'

The way I feel now is really just relief,

relief that both these bears have made it to this stage.

Lily's going to be denned within the next couple of days,

she'll be in hibernation, and with her will be Hope.

So for this year, both these bears are safe.

'It's been a dramatic year for Lily, Hope and for me.

'The trust these bears have shown

'has allowed us to film a world no-one has seen before.

'We agonised when Hope was abandoned...

'..and made the difficult decision to intervene to save her life.

'We watched as she struggled on her own.

'And we were relieved and delighted

'when she and Lily found each other again.'

Hope, that's not you, is it?!

Hello, Hope!

'They and their relatives are teaching us more about bears

'than we ever dreamed possible.

'In a month, the first snow will fall.

'All the bears will be in their dens, and my time here will be over.'

As I look around the forest, there's so many changes

that have taken place over the year,

changes with the bears, changes with the forest itself.

And I think the biggest change has been in me.

When I think back to how I felt about these animals,

and about Lily in particular, I was terrified of this bear.

And now all of that fear has gone.

I know, for one,

I'll never think about these animals in the same way again.

'More than this, I really hope I've done something

'to persuade other people

'bears aren't the monsters we assume them to be.'

These are the last moments that I have with the bears,

and I do feel sad, but I feel less sad when I think to the future,

because, hopefully, long after I'm gone

and the bears that I've got to know are gone,

so long as people care enough about bears,

so long as people are prepared to trust them,

and so long as bears are prepared to trust us,

there's a huge amount still to learn from them.

Subtitles by Red Bee Media Ltd