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Since time immemorial, the Porcupine caribou herd has ranged the Arctic in a 2,800-mile annual trek between its winter feeding grounds inland and its summer calving grounds on the coastal plain of the Beaufort Sea. In 2003, the caribou were joined on their spring journey, possibly for the first time ever, by two humans: wildlife biologist and writer Karsten Heuer and his wife, filmmaker Leanne Allison.
Where the herd once roamed through unpopulated wilderness, it now treks from one country to another. This may well be its downfall, for under its calving grounds lies enough oil to keep the United States going for six months. Nowadays in Washington, that’s considered a lot of oil, enough to justify imperilling this venerable herd. Determined to let the world know what will be lost if drilling takes place, Heuer and Allison accompanied the 123,000-strong Porcupine caribou for five months in an uncharted course over mountain ranges, through deep snow, and across semi-frozen rivers. En route, the heavily pregnant caribou and heavily laden humans alike were stalked by wolves and grizzlies newly awake from hibernation — and ravenous.
An adventure story like no other, Being Caribou reveals the drama and beauty of the migration and brings home the enormity of the loss that will surely be felt if drilling goes ahead.
About this Author
Karsten Heuer lives in Dunster, B.C., and works as an independent biologist studying the movements of wolves, lynx, and cougars in the Rockies. He is the author of Walking the Big Wild (2002).
Reviews
Winner of the Banff Mountain Book Festival Grand Prize
"Captivating. . . . A true adventure story."
-- Quill & Quire
"Evocative, and hard-hitting."
-- Farley Mowat
"An amazing odyssey of a remarkable couple. . . . A record of sheer courage, stamina, and stubbornness."
-- David Suzuki
"It's not often you close the pages of a book with a resolve to live your life differently. But such is the effect of Being Caribou."
-- Canmore Leader
"Karsten Heuer [is] a man with a great imagination and an even greater dream."
-- Don Starkell, author of Paddle to the Amazon
"Walking the Big Wild . . . will make you want to put on your boots and head for the woods."
-- Bruce Kirkby, author of Sand Dance
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