Featuring harrowing tales from bear-attack survivors, groundbreaking filming techniques that have captured unprecedented footage of bear behaviour and a man who has developed a unique – but controversial – relationship living among bears, Animal Planet roars its way into the 2nd annual BEAR WEEK beginning Sunday, March 14 to Saturday, March 20 from 8 to 10 p.m. ET/9 to 11 p.m. PT each night. With the spotlight on one of the world’s most endangered and deadly beasts, Animal Planet’s week-long tribute to bears showcases many ursine species including the sloth, grizzly, polar, black, panda and spectacled bear.
Featuring a mix of remarkable raw footage, real life drama and innovative storytelling, BEAR WEEK presents astonishing revelations about bear communication, evolution and the impact humans are having on their survival. Kicking off the week is the Animal Planet premiere of I’M ALIVE; STRANGER AMONG BEARS; BEARS: SPY IN THE WOODS and THE BEAR WHISPERER premiere through the week.
Animal Planet’s full BEAR WEEK 2010 lineup includes:
I’M ALIVE (10X60) **Animal Planet Premiere**
Sunday, March 14 at 8 and 9 p.m. ET/9 and 10 p.m. PT
Over 100,000 people are killed each year by wild animals, but equally astounding is that hundreds of people beat the odds and survive from the most brutal maulings and deadliest stings, to the most poisonous bites. Why do some people live and others die, and how did the lucky survive? I’M ALIVE presents 10 heart-stopping journeys past the edge of human endurance. Ordinary people thrown into epic struggles for survival tell their own stories while drama brings these incredible experiences to life. I’M ALIVE kicks off during BEAR WEEK with two back-to-back bear-themed episodes; the series continues Sundays at 9 p.m. ET/10 p.m. PT.
STRANGER AMONG BEARS (6X30) **Animal Planet Premiere**
Monday, March 15, 16 and 17 at 8 and 8:30 p.m. ET/9 and 9:30 p.m. PT
For more than 20 years, Charles Vandergaw has been living with wild bears in the Alaskan wilderness. He has developed a unique – but controversial – relationship with the black and grizzly bears that live near his isolated cabin. Now, for the first time, Vandergaw has allowed cameras to capture an entire season on film at what he calls “bear haven.”
AUSTIN STEVENS: GRIZZLY BEAR STAKEOUT (1X60)
Monday, March 15 at 9 p.m. ET/10 p.m. PT
Celebrated wildlife photographer Austin Stevens heads to Western Canada’s Great Bear Rainforest hoping to come face-to-face with a full-grown grizzly. He’s out of his element in this northern terrain but has timed his mission to coincide with the annual salmon run, which lures bears of all sizes out into the open for feeding.
SEASON OF THE SPIRIT BEAR (1X60)
Tuesday, March 16 at 9 p.m. ET/10 p.m. PT
Natural history and tribal folklore combine to give a unique insight into the world of Sri Lanka’s most endangered and charismatic mammal – the Sloth Bear.
YELLOWSTONE: THE GRIZZLY BEAR’S STORY (1X60)
Wednesday, March 17 at 9 p.m. ET/10 p.m. PT
As a grizzly bear family emerges from their den at Snake River, the mother finds an abundance of food for her new cubs, but she has to fight to defend her prey against the newly dominant wolves, bald eagles and local coyotes.
POLAR BEARS & GRIZZLIES: BEARS ON TOP OF THE WORLD (1X60)
Thursday, March 18 at 8 p.m. ET/9 p.m. PT
Follow the differing fortunes of a mother polar bear and a mother grizzly bear as they raise their cubs in a changing world; the shrinking Arctic ice is making life harder for polar bears, but it’s offering new opportunities for grizzly’s to the south.
WILD CHANCE: A BEAR’S STORY (1X30)
Thursday, March 18 at 9 p.m. ET/10 p.m. PT
Black bears are fast adjusting to the modern world; as suburbs, resorts and towns expand, bears are learning that food doesn’t just come with a pulse – it can be wrapped, baked, grilled or fried.
XTREMELY WILD WITH MARK MILLER: GRIZZLIES (1X30)
Thursday, March 18 at 9:30 p.m. ET/10:30 p.m. PT
Grizzly bears in the Rocky Mountain region of Canada are frequently invading recreational campsites; Miller joins park rangers struggling to teach these burly bears a lesson about the dangers they’ll face if they get lost in these more populated areas.
BEARS: SPY IN THE WOODS (1X60) **Animal Planet Premiere**
Friday, March 19 at 8 p.m. ET/9 p.m. PT
Camouflaged roving cameras bring viewers within a paw’s swipe of the world’s bears, offering the most intimate portrayal of these engaging creatures ever recorded. State-of-the-art techniques help to unravel the lives of the giant panda, the brown bear, its white cousin the polar bear and the lesser-known spectacled bear (with light colouring on its face resembling eyeglasses).
CIRCUMPOLAR BEARS: BEARS WITHOUT BORDERS (1X60)
Friday, March 19 at 9 p.m. ET/10 p.m. PT
Travel throughout the northern regions of Canada, Alaska, Finland and Russia to compare the lives of grizzly and polar bears found in the Circumpolar North.
THE BEAR WHISPERER (1X120) **Animal Planet Premiere**
Saturday, March 20 at 8 p.m. ET/9 p.m. PT
Reformed hunter-turned-bear-whisperer Steve Searles of Mammoth Lake, California, handles between 20 and 30 calls a week from panicked residents to extricate black bears when they roam into town.
STAYING SAFE IN BEAR COUNTRY (1X60)
Saturday, March 20 at 10 p.m. ET/11 p.m. PT
This valuable instructional program uses consensus opinion of leading experts on bear behaviour and its relevance to human safety. Using real bears and re-enactments, this program presents vital information to help you if you are confronted with a bear in the wild.
*Animal Planet is available on digital cable and satellite across Canada. To subscribe, contact your local cable or satellite provider and ask for Animal Planet.
