Casey Anderson

Pound for pound, when it comes to terrestrial predators, I’m putting the brown bear near the top of the list. Tiger? Lion? I’m still taking the bear. And while a gorilla isn’t technically a predator, since people always throw them into this debate, I’m taking the bear there, too. Why? Speed. Strength. Brute force. Durability. And brains. That last one gets overlooked. Brown bears have incredible situational awareness and an ability to think, react, adjust and move incredibly fast for an animal that size. Call it fighting IQ, the combination of intelligence, instinct and physical capability when things get serious. So what do you think? What’s the toughest terrestrial predator on the planet? Is there anything that could consistently beat a full-grown adult brown bear? And remember: grizzly bears and brown bears are the same species, Ursus arctos. Want to see BIG brown bears up close and learn more about what makes them so remarkable?

Wolves are built to move. They don’t know when they leave Yellowstone. They don’t know when they cross from Wyoming into Montana, from public land to private land, or from protection into a hunting season. Those are our lines. Not theirs. Wolves can travel 30 miles in a day, and dispersing wolves have been documented traveling hundreds of miles. That’s how wolves have found their way back into landscapes across the American West. But every mile can change the human world around them. One person may be pointing a camera. A few miles later, someone else may be pointing a rifle. They can move from wild land to ranch land, from tolerance to intolerance, from people who celebrate their presence to people who want them gone. The wolf doesn’t know any of it. It’s a predator. It moves. It hunts. It eats meat. It follows opportunity and instinct across invisible lines we’ve drawn on a map. Those traits are why wolves get into trouble. They’re why wolves have been so successful at reclaiming parts of their former range. And they’re part of why people can look at the exact same animal and either love it or hate it. Through all of it, a wolf is still just a wolf.

We tend to describe nature through what we see. The light. The landscape. The animals. The colors of a sunset. But some of the most powerful experiences in the wild arrive through sound. A lion’s roar can travel for miles across the African night. Up close, you don’t just hear it. You feel it. The low frequencies seem to move through the ground and into your body. And when a lion calls, the entire landscape is listening, other lions, prey, and everything else sharing that darkness. Including us. Hear a wild lion roar in Africa and it becomes a sound you never really forget. And maybe that’s part of what makes Africa so difficult to leave behind. It isn’t only what you see. It’s the sounds, the smells, the heat, the dust, the darkness, and the feeling of being surrounded by a world that is intensely alive. When you’re there, it can be intoxicating. And when you leave, some part of you starts wanting to go back. We’re preparing now for our next journey into Africa, and I can already hear it.

This wolf pup has an unknown life ahead of it. It was born in the land between two very different worlds, the protection of Yellowstone National Park and the landscape beyond its borders. It will move back and forth across a line drawn by humans, never seeing a fence or a sign telling it when the rules have changed. On one side, it’s protected. On the other, it may not be. I often wonder how much wolves understand about these invisible boundaries. They’re extraordinarily intelligent, perceptive animals. Can they learn where danger begins? Can they sense the places where people tolerate them and the places where they don’t? This little guy was born into that fragmented world. We were likely the first humans it ever encountered, but we certainly won’t be the last. Some people will love this wolf simply because it exists. Others will hate it for the same reason. And somewhere between those extremes, it will have to learn how to live alongside us. Its relationship with people will likely shape much of its life, and, ultimately, may determine how that life ends. For now, though, it’s just a wolf pup. It doesn’t know any of that yet. The full YouTube episode is out now on Endless Venture.

Want to restore the planet's ecosystems and see your impact in monthly videos? The first 100 people to join Planet Wild with my code ENDLESS8 will get the first month paid for by me: https://planetwild.com/r/endlessventure/join/8 If you want to get to know them better first, check out their beaver mission: https://planetwild.com/r/endlessventure/m41/8 Get 20% off any ONX subscription with code "VENTURE20" at https://www.onxmaps.com This adventure began when Riley was exploring a remote stretch of the mountains and unexpectedly came across three adult wolves. One of them appeared to be a nursing female, and that single observation immediately raised a question: could there be a den nearby? Riley and I returned to the area, followed the clues, and began investigating what these wolves were doing on the landscape. What we uncovered was a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity—a wild wolf den and a brand-new wolf pack in the Yellowstone ecosystem. But discovering the wolves was only the beginning. Almost immediately, we were faced with difficult questions. Do we film them? Do we tell their story? How much of their world should we reveal? And could simply telling their story put them at greater risk? These wolves live on the front line of humanity in the Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem. People will be part of their world for the rest of their lives, for better or worse. They live on a razor’s edge, navigating a landscape shared with roads, communities, grizzly bears, mountain lions, and people. During the making of this episode, we found ourselves on that same edge—constantly weighing our responsibility as filmmakers against the importance of showing people the reality of what it means to coexist with wolves. Using tracking, observation, and remote cameras, we documented the lives of this wolf family as they raised their pups, moved between den sites, protected their young, and slowly revealed the secrets of their world. Follow the Endless Venture team Casey Anderson / grizguy / grizzlyguy Riley McClaughry (Cameraman/Editor) / riley.mcclaughry DISCLAIMER: The content featured on Endless Venture is created by Casey Anderson, a professional wildlife tracker, filmmaker, and wilderness expert with nearly 50 years of experience in the field, alongside a highly trained team of professionals. All activities involving wild animals and remote wilderness environments are conducted with extensive knowledge, preparation, and safety protocols. Do not attempt to replicate anything you see on this channel without the guidance and support of qualified professionals. Wild animals are unpredictable, and wilderness environments can be extremely dangerous. Your safety—and the safety of wildlife—should always come first.

WOLVES. Some people love them. Some people hate them. And here in Montana, I think a lot of us are somewhere in between. One of the worst things we can do in wildlife conservation is stop talking to each other. You can see that in the history of wolves in the West. Some people believe wolf reintroduction was the government forcing something on people who didn’t want it. Others believe it was restoring an important native predator and helping repair an ecosystem. Others argue wolves were already expanding south from Canada and eventually would have returned on their own, if we had allowed them to. So who’s right? Maybe that’s the wrong question. Whether we’re talking about wolves, mountain lions, grizzly bears, elk, or any other wildlife, we’re never going to agree on everything. Wildlife management isn’t black and white. There’s a whole lot of gray in the middle, and I think that’s where the most important conversations happen. Montana recently reduced its statewide wolf harvest quota, and once again the debate is polarized. Some say the change was necessary. Others say it wasn’t. Some say the science supports it. Others question the science or how it’s being used. Here’s the question I’m interested in: Can we put our personal feelings aside, whether we love wolves or hate them, and ask what is actually best for the ecosystem AND all the people who live on this landscape? Does that landscape include wolves? If so, how many? Where? How should they be managed? How do we protect healthy predator populations while recognizing the very real concerns of ranchers, hunters and rural communities living alongside them? Those are conversations worth having. I don’t pretend to know everything. In fact, one of the reasons I make posts like this is because I learn something every time. And usually, the more I listen, the more I find myself somewhere in the middle, with compassion for people on both sides. That’s Montana. We can disagree with our neighbors and still respect them. So let’s use this platform for something worthwhile. No name-calling. No “you’re an idiot because you disagree with me.” Bring your experience. Bring your science. Bring your perspective. And be willing to listen to somebody else’s. Do wolves belong on Montana’s landscape? And if they do, what does responsible management actually look like? Let’s have the conversation. And tomorrow we’ve got a big wolf episode dropping on Endless Venture. Head over, subscribe, and don’t miss it.

This post isn’t about a bear. It’s about a tree. As you watch this clip, look at the entirety of it, not just the wildlife passing through, and think about it a little deeper. Beauty is in the eye of the beholder. At first glance, you might call this the ugliest tree in the forest. It’s stunted, sparse, twisted and bent, more Charlie Brown Christmas tree than towering evergreen. But then you learn its story. Bears come to it. Moose come to it. They rub against it, bite it, bend it and batter it. Year after year, it takes the abuse and keeps growing. And all that abuse hasn’t ruined this tree. It’s shaped it. Every bend, bite and broken branch has given it character. It’s tough, imperfect, unmistakable, and among thousands of seemingly perfect trees in this forest, it’s the one that stands out. Once you know its story, you realize the ugliest tree in the forest might just be one of the most beautiful.

Here’s another fun bear video, and a pretty great lesson in black bear behavior. I’ve been getting a lot of questions about what to do if you encounter a black bear. If you live in North America, black bears are the bear species you’re most likely to encounter, so this is information you may actually need someday. Important: This advice is specific to black bears. It does not necessarily apply to grizzly bears or polar bears, although some of the same confident behavior can also apply to encounters with mountain lions. Watch the cat in this video. It’s doing a lot of things right: holding its ground, staying confident, making itself look formidable, and refusing to act like prey. Black bears generally have a strong flight response, they’re built to run, climb, and escape. But if a black bear is persistently approaching or showing unusual interest in you, you don’t want to behave like prey. Hold your ground. Look big. Make noise. Be assertive. Yell, clap, throw objects if necessary, and make it very clear: Get out of here, bear. Watch this cat’s body language. Fluffy Tabby Cat is tapping into instinct and giving us a pretty good black bear lesson. And yes: carry bear spray. One additional note before the cowboys come riding into the comments: firearms can certainly be an option for people who are properly equipped, trained, and legally able to carry them. But not everyone is. When I’m talking to the general public, I’m going to continue recommending bear spray because the evidence supports it as a highly effective, accessible defensive tool for the average person traveling in bear country. So cowboys, Jesse James, you’re all good. You can keep the firearm comments holstered on this one.