Face-to-Face with Hungry Bears

Scottish animals movie maker Gordon Buchanan moved to Svalbard, the northern-most area of Arctic Norwegian, to papers the lifestyles of three polar bears, a mother (Lyra) and her two pups (Miki and Luca), over the course of three periods. Positioned within his own individual "ice cube" box, the cameraman gets an romantic and almost dangerous look at these large, meat-eating animals that wander the chilly, cold areas.

Buchanan's project in his safety pod has proven to get some never-before-seen opinions of the risky animals in similarly harmful varying climate circumstances. He and his team endured "freezing gusts of wind, aggressive stormy climate and rapidly declining temperatures" in addition to the worry of coming so up-close and individual with 1,000 lb. polar bears. They moved to unchartered areas to catch the animals in their natural environment for a three-part documented sequence named The Polar Bear Family and Me.

Though the documentarian has forced himself into life-threatening circumstances to movie animals for over 20 years, he awards this experience with the gold for most terrifying. He says, "A lot of people think that carnivores are intrinsically dangerous but most aren't - there's a minimal risk and attacks are the exception. But polar bears are different, without a doubt she wanted me for lunch. She was so persistent, looking for a weak spot for almost 45 minutes."There was even one point where Buchanan scary that the predator would turn his vehicle over, revealing the relatively delicate plywood base.

The Polar Bear Family and Me is planned to air in three parts for three successive night time on BBC2, beginning this evening (Monday, Jan 7th) at 9:30pm. Meanwhile, check out a heart-pounding review video of a female total bear fighting Buchanan's perspex crate, below.