Photograph by @paulnicklen // Just flying home from Alaska where we had an incredible encounter with a massive brown bear. He was cautious, respectful and beautiful. In fact, I have seen over 2000 polar bears, 1000 grizzly bears and hundreds of black bears in the wild and I’ve never had a bad experience. I definitely have never seen a bear snarl like the taxidermy interpretation of these polar bears. We kill thousands of bears in North America each year and yet we portray them as vicious, snarling, human-eating beasts. Why do you think we make bears the enemy and have a need to vilify them? They represent the best parts of a complex and essential ecosystem that we are a part of and have a responsibility to protect. I have always learned something of value from a wild bear. Please #follow me on #paulnicklen to see images of bears that we will be posting throughout the week. #nature #wild #bear #beauty #coexist #keepitwild #love #gratitude by natgeo http://ift.tt/1P8ta7Q – Gatlinburg Garden Castle Rainbow Tower Library Imagination Station Temple Water Spirit Guardian Labyrinth Treasury Magic Healing