Thursday, March 06, 2008

Join GBOP at Woodland Park Zoo (April 5) and REI (April 16)

Woodland Park Zoo and GBOP are hosting the annual Bear Affair Day on Saturday, April 5th.

Also join Chris Morgan, bear biologist, director of the Grizzly Bear Outreach Project and Producer of the feature documentary BEARTREK at the downtown Seattle REI on Wednesday, April 16th beginning at 7 pm.



On April 5th Woodland Park Zoo staff will give presentations at the various bear and wolf exhibits. REI and GBOP will set up a non-safe camp in the Grizzly Bear exhibit so that you can see what happens when bears encounter a camp full of food. A limited number of free WPZ tickets and behind the scene tour opportunities are available.

Contact Dennis Ryan at dryan@methow.com to sign up.

On April 16th travel from Spitzbergen to Spain, and learn how 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. Chris 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.

Chris Morgan, GBOP Director