In Grizzly Confidential, author Kevin Grange – former paramedic and park ranger at Yellowstone and Grand Teton – comes face-to-face with North America's most fearsome predator, Ursus arctos.
His quest takes him from his home in the Tetons to an eerie, mist-shrouded island of gigantic bruins; from the Bear Center at Washington State University – where scientists believe the secrets of hibernation might help treat diabetes, heart disease, and obesity in humans – to the dark underbelly of for-profit wildlife parks, illegal animal trade and black markets hawking bear bile.
Along the way, he meets fascinating biologists and activists and discovers that everything he knew about grizzlies was wrong. Ultimately, his odyssey leads him to find answers on a remote corner of the Alaskan Peninsula where, for the last fifty years, humans have coexisted peacefully alongside the largest gathering of brown bears on the planet.
Grizzly Confidential is about bears but also the inspiring people who look after them. This is a fast-paced, gripping story that educates, entertains, and gives a sneak peek into the secret life of a well-known species. Part science, part travelogue, and a passionate plea for bear conservation, Grizzly Confidential is a lively account for anyone who loves the outdoors and learning about the natural world.
Kevin Grange is a firefighter paramedic in Jackson Hole, Wyoming. He is the award-winning author of Wild Rescues: A Paramedic's Extreme Adventures in Yosemite, Yellowstone, and Grand Teton, Lights and Sirens: The Education of a Paramedic, and Beneath Blossom Rain: Discovering Bhutan on the Toughest Trek in the World, He has written for National Parks, Backpacker, Utne Reader, Yoga Journal, and the Orange County Register. He has worked as a park ranger and paramedic at Yellowstone, Yosemite, and Grand Teton National Parks.
"Grange's ability to portray these bears, and the humans who've spent their lives enthralled with them, makes the book a delight. And you walk away with a simple mantra – 'respect the bear and the bear will respect you' – that serves as a broader life lesson."
– Senator Tim Kaine, author of Walk, Ride, Paddle: A Life Outside
"In the vein of Mary Roach, Kevin Grange uses rigorous reporting, beautiful storytelling, and laugh-out-loud humor to debunk the myths surrounding bears, leading readers to a greater understanding of these often misunderstood ursine species.'
– Stephanie Pearson, 2023 National Geographic Explorer and contributing editor to Outside
"Grizzly Confidential brings readers face-to-face with not only the fearsome predator, but some of the world's foremost experts on bruins, making for an engaging and evocative journey into the wild."
– Gloria Dickie, author of Eight Bears: Mythic Past and Imperiled Future
"Grange's elegant prose conveys the fearsome majesty of his subjects (he describes Kodiak grizzlies as 'hulking bruins whose bellies nearly dragged on the dirt and who ambled with wide, prehistoric gaits'), and he provides enlightening trivia on their behavior and abilities (despite grizzlies' reputation as apex predators, they 'prefer a mostly vegetarian diet with the occasional side of meat or salmon'). This will change how readers view 'the largest terrestrial predators on earth.'"
– Publishers Weekly