First Time in the Cage
I can’t quite explain how exciting it was to be chosen as the person to do all filming within the Northern Lights bear enclosures - quite honestly it was a dream come true. Prior to filming, Angelika & Peter insisted there would be only one member of the production team inside the bear enclosures in order to avoid habituating the cubs to humans prior to their release.
Walking into that bear cage for the first time, I found myself surrounded by eight hungry yearling black bears, each weighing anywhere from 120-185lbs. The sounds of grumbling gluttonise bears crunching through apples and fish bones muted the world around us. As I began filming, I noticed each of the bears’ eyes shifting up from their lunches to assess the new guy wandering through domain.
Yakoun, the largest of the black bear yearlings, decided it was his job to learn a little more about me, and my camera. Nose in the air, ears perked up, Yakoun made his way towards me, as he unsuccessfully tucked behind branches and other bears. I couldn’t help but notice a mischievous glare as his eyes peered out from behind a den box. Unfortunately for him, his next step forward was halted by a chilling huffing noise that came bursting over my shoulder from Angelika. Yakoun immediately scampered off back to his lunch, as Angelika chuckled to herself.
Angelika later explained that from an early age, she huffs at the cubs to reprimand them for any bad behavior. After a year in the shelter, the yearlings still instinctively retreat each time she huffs. It’s all part of Angelika’s role as momma bear to teach the cubs right from wrong, and most importantly, to avoid humans. That’s part of the reason Northern Lights has had such great success releasing bears back to the wild.
After only a week of filming inside the bear enclosures, often with upwards of thirty bears, they quickly realized I had absolutely nothing to offer them. They shrugged me off as a hopeless bear, unable to feed himself, or a maybe just a really bad caretaker who always forgot to bring food… But either way it allowed for me to capture natural bear behavior, in a very up close and personal way.
Angelika & Peter have provided me with one of the most incredible work experiences I will ever have. I am very indebted to them and in return I have tried my utmost to help capture the incredible effort the Langen family and their volunteers have put into rehabilitating BC wildlife.
