‘A bear’s best friend:’ Alberta naturalist Charlie Russell dies at 76
An Alberta naturalist who lived with bears to learn that people are part of nature and not separate from it has died.
Charlie Russell, who died Monday in hospital, was 76.
“The bears of the world have lost their best friend,” said Russell’s brother Gord, speaking from the cabin overlooking Waterton National Park in Alberta where the two lived.
Charlie Russell, son of the renowned conservationist Andy Russell, was raised in the foothills of southern Alberta. He grew up to be rancher — until 1960, when his father took him and his brother to help shoot a documentary on bears.