Bears have always held a central place in our collective memory, from Indigenous folklore and Greek mythology to nineteenth-century fairytales and the modern toy shop. But as humans and bears come into ever-closer contact, our relationship nears a tipping point. Today, most of the eight remaining bear species are threatened with extinction. Some, such as the panda bear and the polar bear, are icons of the natural world; others, such as the spectacled bear and the sloth bear, are far less known.

In Eight Bears, journalist Gloria Dickie embarks on a globe-trotting journey to explore each bear's story, whisking readers from the cloud forests of the Andes to the ice floes of the Arctic; from the jungles of India to the backwoods of the Rocky Mountain West. She meets with key figures on the frontlines of modern conservation efforts-the head of a rescue centre for sun and moon bears freed from bile farms, a biologist known as Papa Panda, who has led China's panda-breeding efforts for almost four decades, a conservationist retraining a military radar system to detect and track polar bears near towns-to reveal the unparalleled challenges bears face as they contend with a rapidly changing climate and encroaching human populations.

Weaving together ecology, history, mythology and a captivating account of her travels and observations, Dickie offers a closer look at our volatile relationship with these magnificent mammals. Engrossing and deeply reported, Eight Bears delivers a clear warning for what we risk losing if we don't learn to live alongside the animals that have shaped our cultures, geographies and stories.

About the Author
Gloria Dickie is a global climate and environment correspondent at Reuters News Agency. Her writing has been published in the New York Times, the Guardian, National Geographic, Scientific American, and the Atlantic, among other publications. Originally from Ontario, Canada, she lives in London, England.

Reviews
"A family album of the remaining varieties of bear... As Dickie shows, bears are in deep trouble, and her book is a compelling attempt to see through their eyes." -- Edward Posnett - The Guardian
"This book is not just a bear encyclopedia. Dickie wants to ask what it means to conserve a species, and in some cases how much conservation is 'enough'." -- Katrina Gulliver
"Eight Bears explores the wonder and friction that characterise the relationship between bruins and people... Gloria Dickie travels around the world, bringing readers on a riveting and unique sort of bear hunt." -- The Economist
"Wonderfully eye-opening and compelling" -- Christopher Hart - The Daily Mail
"At once heartbreaking and hopeful, steeped in science and rich in poetry, Eight Bears is an intrepid investigation into the harms we've inflicted upon bears-and proof that we still have the power to save our ursine brethren." -- Ben Goldfarb, award-winning author of Eager: The Surprising, Secret Life of Beavers and Why They Matter



Book Information
ISBN 9781324086994
Author Gloria Dickie
Format Paperback
Page Count 272
Imprint WW Norton & Co
Publisher WW Norton & Co
Weight(grams) 220g
Dimensions(mm) 211mm * 140mm * 18mm