Out on a Limb: An incredible journey of Ben Kilham in understanding Black Bear sociology

Book Reviewed: Out on a Limb: What Black Bears Have Taught Me about Intelligence and Intuition, by Benjamin Kilham

This is an incredible journey of author Ben Kilham who has been studying, for nearly 20 years, the wild black bears as a state-licensed researcher. His work is deemed safe, methodical and it is officially sanctioned. He had the rare ability to read nature and applied these skills to study bears. He has observed these animals closely and continuously and amassed a wealth of knowledge about the way the black bears communicate, socialize and share resources. They not only taught him their world but also allowed him to understand how humans misunderstand the animal world. The academic community uses radio collars, remote cameras and DNA testing to study animal behavior, but the author employed the simplest method in his study; just observe the bears in their own habitat and learn from them.

Black Bears have the ability to share, cooperate, judge and punish, forgive and reconcile. This study shattered the "bear myth," and suggests that they are actually social and not solitary animals; they communicate with intention, operate with a moral code, and demonstrate altruism, compassion, and empathy. Bears are intelligent creatures with cognitive skills well beyond science currently recognizes in them. Cooperation and altruism did not begin with humans. The use of symbols and expressions existed in animals and they evolved in humans. The results of this study with black bear provide an excellent model to understand primal elements of social change. Up to 900,000 black bears live in North America and millions of interactions occur between humans and bears every year, but very few results in human death. From this study, we learn that black bears are highly tolerant of humans and in rare instances where the bear become dangerous, it is only because humans create that situation. We can modify our behavior that signals good responses from our neighbors in the wilderness, says the author. I very much enjoyed reading this book and it reads effortlessly; highly recommended to everyone interested in animal behavior!