Bear 148
Undercurrent is an investigative podcast by the award-winning journalists at The Narwhal.

In Season 1: Bear 148, host Molly Segal investigates the life and death of a beloved grizzly bear in Alberta’s Bow Valley. Was Bear 148 in the wrong? Or were we? Either way, it was the bear that ended up dead.

This six-part series tracks the life and death of a female grizzly bear who ended up dying 450 km from her home range, spurring major public outcry.

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Bear 148

Episode 6: Bear scare

For more than half a century people have been told to stay away from bears, that bears are inherently dangerous and to be avoided or killed. Can we overcome decades of bear scare to find a new way to think about and react to grizzlies?
Bear 148 Marc Breau traintracks

Episode 5: Why did the grizzly cross the road?

Highways, camp sites, park trails, train tracks, power lines — these man-made features fragment grizzly habitat in all sorts of ways and yet we expect bears to navigate from A to B, in search of food and mates, without getting into trouble. If they don't, they become a "nuisance bear"
Bear 148 Marc Breau

Episode 4: Invisible borders

The borders we create are invisible to grizzly bears. But crossing those invisible borders, and stepping into a new set of rules, turned out to have deadly consequences for Bear 148
Bear 148 Leah Hennel

Episode 3: Human footprint

Rumours and conspiracy theories swirl around the decision to move Bear 148 out of her home range, leading to her death just two months later. But those stories obscure a much simpler and more troubling reality of the role seemingly innocuous human activities — like sneaking into closed areas or walking with dogs off-leash — played in Bear 148’s story
Bear 148 Leah Hennel reflection

Episode 2: Outcry

From her habit of snacking on goose eggs at a nearby lake, to cautiously navigating throngs of camera-wielding tourists, Bear 148 was well-known and well-loved in the Bow Valley. While she lived very close to people and learned to be comfortable among them, that feeling wasn't always reciprocated
Bear 148 Leah Hennel shadow

Episode 1: A perfect neighbour

Many people called Bear 148 the perfect neighbour because she wasn't afraid of people. So how did she end up being shot by a hunter far from her home?
Bear 148 Marc Breau

Trailer: Bear 148

Was Bear 148 in the wrong? Or were we? Either way, it was the bear that ended up dead
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Cartoon title: Risks of reading The Narwhal. Illustration of a woman sitting with a computer that has a Narwhal sticker on a park bench. A narwhal sitting next to her reads her computer screen over the shoulder. Text reads: "Wait — the government did WHAT?"
More than 800 readers have already stepped up in December to support our investigative journalism. Will you help us break big stories in 2025 by making a donation this holiday season?