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Home » Video » NATURE | Bears of the Last Frontier | Video Diary: In Search of...

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  • Nature

NATURE | Bears of the Last Frontier | Video Diary: In Search of Caribou | PBS

Duration: 05:32
Program: Nature #2815

Ecologist and bear biologist Chris Morgan are on the search for the Arctic's large caribou population.

Chris: "It all seems so easy on the finished film! But I love this behind-the-scenes clip because it gives a real sense of the time we had to put in to find nearly half a million Western Arctic caribou. When you consider that they roam an area the size of Montana it becomes easier to understand how the search can become endless. Joe and I were up all night on many exhausting occasions in very remote camps searching by foot, helicopter, and bush plane, but the payoff was a moment that will stay with me forever. In episode three you will see what I mean, but check out this clip for a taste of the search that went into it. Of course we were on the lookout for Arctic grizzly bears that follow the herd - especially at this time of year - calving season, but they were even more difficult to find and film than the caribou. I have to say, I came away completely fascinated by caribou - they play such an important ecological role here in the vast, beautiful western Arctic - aerating soils with their many thousands of hooves, spreading nitrogen and fertilizer in the form of urine and feces, and of course providing one hundred twenty five million pounds of meat for bears and wolves!"

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Post Date: May 19, 2011