This bear cub was sleeping peacefully in a tree in Gatineau park, boldly close to the entrance, as if the gathering of onlookers grabbing snapshots and flashing light at it (which was completely unnecessary) were not even there, scurrying about on the ground as we would expect of seagulls if we had a piece of bread in our hand while standing on a high porch. I do not like being part of a crowd when photographing, because for me it is about pretty much the opposite of this, but I took my shot and booted it out of the scene quickly. There were park officials present to make sure nothing got out of hand and to keep traffic flowing smoothly as nearly everyone pulled over to snap their own picture memory, but also because where there is a cub, there is a mother, and they never like a crowd near their child.

I remember a time when I was venturing around Algonquin Park in Ontario with the Coleman's (Kerry Coleman - father and biologist for the Ministry of Natural Resources of Ontario, Jeff Coleman - my best friend since I was two and a half and burn-out psychedelic with a cruel amount of ambition and an amazing level of intrigue and capability, Jane Coleman - mother and worrier and picnic choreographer and the one who retained a secure level of common sense around a group of boys, whose nature it is to find mischief, or in the absence of this, make it themselves). We had paddled around in a canoe from early morning till late afternoon, and had seen many magnificent wild Moose, bull and cow alike, ranging roaming and grazing along an isolated creek running through grasslands and then wetlands. One bold bull even allowed us within a few feet of him as he ate the tender roots and shoots from the underwater plant life. On the way home, however, a cow and her two young ones were crossing the road and causing a great affair as many people pulled over, left their cars, and got up close to get their snapshot. One woman, however, grew far too bold and stepped in between the cow and her young, as she sent them across the road first (after inspecting both sides and the route). The cow immediately charged the quaint Asian lady, who just barely ducked out of the way. Though I'd be reminded many more times in my day, I knew then the consequences of coming between a mother and her child.

Black Bears and Grizzly Bears are actually both Brown Bears. They differ in colour and proportion because of their different locations (primarily) in Canada, but are actually quite the same bear. These two do not have the aggressiveness of their cousin, the Kodiak, nor its size, while the Kodiak is still second in its proportions to the Polar Bear, the largest land-stalking predator in the world. These bears enjoy wide-ranging habitats, and such places are few and far between in this modern world. Thus, the bear is rapidly losing its vital place in Canada's few remaining wild ecosystems.

Canada is one of the wildest places left in the world. To see its illustrious and vivacious forests, wetlands, grasslands, and every other kind of ecosystem dwindling under the expansion of human development is extremely depressing to me, like being forced to watch a loved one perish before me. I implore you to explore our modern environmental problems at http://www.wwf.ca/ - visit the Nature Audit section in the left taskbar for the remarkable beginnings of a longitudinal study of Canada's biodiversity: its protection, its health.

http://www.eia.doe.gov/emeu/cabs/canenv.html
http://www.atl.ec.gc.ca/epb/index.html
http://www.cwf-fcf.org/pages/home/default_e.asp?language=e

For specific articles about deforestation, visit http://www.rcfa-cfan.org/english/issues.12.html and http://www.pfc.forestry.ca/news/InfoForestry/climate_change/iftracking_e.html.