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.
