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B.C. grizzly advocate is bringing the bears to your living room through a podcast

Nicholas Scapillati interviewed people throughout North America to produce heart-warming stories about human- grizzly interactions
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Nicolas Scapillati (left) with Phil Timpany who shares his story from Yukon in one of the episodes. (Submitted photo)

Very soon you can put on your headphones and enter the world of grizzlies and hear stories from people who are on the front-lines of conservation.

Nicolas Scapillati, executive director of Grizzly Bear Foundation, a Vancouver based non-profit, is excited to bring grizzly stories to people’s living rooms through his podcast series, GrizzCast which will be aired on July 6.

As a grizzly advocate, Scapillati has always propagated awareness and education as the foremost tool to conserving grizzlies and reducing wildlife conflict.

Scapillati travelled across North America and interviewed people involved in grizzly conservation.

For the seven-episode series, that will release on the first Monday of each month, he spoke with people from unique professional backgrounds.

“You have scientists, hereditary chiefs, war correspondents, hunters turned conservationists, fishers and others who have such great stories,” Scapillati said, and added, that these stories will “inspire people” to see how they can play a role in conservation.”

While the colourful backgrounds and heartwarming interactions of the people add to well-researched informative pieces, the real stars of the show are the iconic grizzlies.

Scapillati said that people will be drawn in because the podcast is all about grizzlies.

“There’s so much people can learn about these animals that are so often misunderstood because people are afraid of it and don’t know how to live with it,” said Scapillati.

With more grizzlies turning up at a lot of places where they’ve historically never been before, these podcasts will be particularly helpful to “re-frame” human relationships with grizzlies.

READ MORE:Vancouver Island grizzlies: moving in, or just passing through?

There’s humour, adventure, excitement, and lots of information about the bears in each episode.

In the first episode, set in Yellowstone, Doug Peacock talks about the ‘healing power of grizzlies’ and how being around these “wonderful animals” saved his life.

In another episode, a former hunting guide from Yukon, Phil Timpany, talks about the transformative journey that led him to become a bear conservationist.

Closer to Vancouver Island, hereditary chief Mike Willie talks about indigenous led conservation and the cultural significance of grizzlies to the First Nations.

Scapillati and Willie also talk about Mali the beloved grizzly who was shot near Broughton Archipelago after being relocated through historic joint efforts.

READ MORE: Mali, the grizzly shot after an epic relocation, to be buried today on First Nation’s land

Episodes of GrizzCast will be available on Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, Spotify, Stitcher, Castbox, YouTube and iHeart Radio.

For podcast updates and more on Grizzly Bear Foundation’s work to protect the grizzly bear, visit grizzcast.grizzlybearfoundation.com.



About the Author: Binny Paul

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