Customer Reviews

Being Caribou: Five Months on Foot with an Arctic Herd (The World As Home)

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Thanks to the Bush administration, the debate about oil drilling in Arctic National Wildlife Refuge (ANWR) is still strong in congress. Wanting to have a deeper understanding of the land and the animals that live on it, I picked up Being Caribou last month. Winner of the 2005 Banff Mountain Book Festival grand prize, it is the true account of wildlife biologist Karsten Heuer and filmmaker Leanne Allison, who set out on a five month trek, following the migration of more than 120,000 caribou.

It is first and foremost an amazing account of a couple that traveled by foot and by skis - sometimes as much as 20 miles a day - through some pretty unforgiving terrian. I've never been stalked by a grizzly bear, but I now know what it must be like to be faced with one that wants to make you into dinner. The two paid attention to their dreams, listened to the music of the earth, and ultimately learned what it is to "be caribou."

More compelling, however, was the information that puts the oil supply in perspective and dispels many of the politician-generated myths about ANWR.

Did you know that the supply of oil under ANWR represents a mere 6-month supply of oil for the United States and that it would take ten years or more for it to hit the market? Huh?! Our President wants to destroy the calving grounds for 120,000 animals for a mere 0.3% of world oil production in 2016?

The environmental impact - not only to the caribou and other animals, but to the land itself - is also quite interesting. We don't hear about it, but Prudhoe Bay has an average of one oil spill a day. Geez!

The book is a quick read, and I'd highly recommend it. If you don't have time for the whole meal deal, though, you can get a reader's digest version of their trek and the issues surrounding drilling in ANWR from the Web at beingcaribou - dot - com.

Karsten Heuer and his wife, Leanne, follow the Porcupine Herd of caribou in their migration to the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge.

Not only an interesting memoir of a journey fraught with difficult ground, mosquitoes and grizzly bears, but a moving account of the many dangers faced by caribou as they struggle to survive -- dangers that will be increased if the ANWR is opened to oil exploration and drilling. Heuer's writing successfully evokes the connection he and Leanne come to feel with the caribou and their alienation from the artificial rush of civilization.

The book makes a powerful argument for lasting conservationist values and against destruction for the short-term profit of a few. It seems too much to hope, though, that it will actually be able to do any good.

Being Caribou was my favorite book of 2005. Not only do you get the adventure story, information on the ANWR oil issues, and a real glimpse of the life of a Porcupine caribou, you also get to know Karsten & Leanne through their journey.

I highly recommend as well the film of the journey (available from HeronDance-dot-org and the National Film Board of Canada). I was so moved by it that I bought 6 more copies for holiday gifts.

If you enjoy the outdoors, are concerned about the environment, are contemplating a long trip of your own, or simply question the sanity of a newlywed couple who treks across the Arctic for 5 months... check out Being Caribou. It's worth the read.

Having enjoyed the movie by the same title, I decided to read Heuer's book in the hope that it would fill in more of the details of this epic journey in the footsteps of the Porcupine herd of caribou. Without detracting from the movie, the book provides more insight into those aspects of the story that could not easily be addressed on film, such as logistics, nature observations, the passage of days, and the more personal side of what, at times, must have seemed an impossible journey.

While the narrative follows the progress of the caribou herd's trek along a continuum spanning three seasons, it is interwoven with backflashes to planning and preparation for the expedition, reflections on the ecological and cultural place occupied by caribou, and forays into the politics of oil exploration and its impact on the Arctic wildlife.

Having now watched the movie and read the book, I remain amazed at the logistics of this journey -- from both the perspective of this expedition, and for the caribou which they follow. The book fleshed in much of what I suspected from the start -- that the annual migration of the caribou is a grueling marathon through a landscape that is both beautiful, but fraught with perils far beyond our imaginings.

From the perspective of adventure writing, Heuer delivers a fast-paced narrative that provides a good understanding of the landscape and the logistics of the journey. We are given enough details to vicariously feel the weight of a 70 pound backpack, the chill of wading a half-frozen river, and the helpless sense of frustration while watching a lost caribou calf straying from the herd to certain death on the tundra. We're given a generous glimpse into the thoughts of the writer as he and his partner face fear, pain, and fatigue, but also experience joy, excitement, and a growing respect for the caribou - as well as a grave concern for their future.

But this book should be regarded as much more than a travel or adventure narrative. It provides a much-needed window into the lives of the caribou and their place in the unique and fragile web of Arctic ecology. It also provides a background to the political and environmental issues that endanger the future of the north.

It takes a special kind of couple to spend their honeymoon following a herd of caribou across northern Canada and Alaska for four months. Getting used to each other is hard enough, but then to be swimming rivers that are barely free of ice, to climb mountain ranges in the snow, meeting up with grizzly bears that are not overly friendly.

They traveled over a thousand miles to study the caribou to produce a film of their migration to the Artic National Wildlife Refuge (ANWR). The flyleaf of the book says that it is an 'Adventure Narrative' and it is. It's also a lot more than that as most of us don't know what the current debate about drilling for oil and gas in the ANWR is all about. Needless to say, as a wildlife biologist the author has very definite views on the subject.

The ANWR is a place that most of us will never see. It's a place that most people never heard of. And unfortunately, it's probably a place that will be damaged, if not destroyed in the search for energy. As a congresswoman told the author: 'the bottom line for voters on this issue is cheap gas.'

This book is a story of the life of teh animals in the north, and of the people who study them. It's a story worth reading about. Thank you Mr. Heuer for bringing this to our attention.

Husband and wife team of Karsten Heuer and Leanne Allison decide to spend their honeymoon in just about the most off-the-beaten-track way possible: they're going to migrate with caribou.

Not just any caribou, but the Porcupine herd of northern Canada and Alaska, the herd whose calving ground is the 1002 Section of the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge, the place where Exxon wants to drill to get what will likely be less than six months, maybe one year's worth of U.S. needs of oil supply.

So, skiing and hiking, the duo spend April-September 2003 covering hundreds of miles in the wake of thousands of caribou, starting from Canada's Yukon, going into Alaska, then coming back. On the way, they cross and recross multiple mountain ranges and rivers, the latter frozen on the way up and roiling currents on the way back, battle swarms of summer mosquitoes and other bugs, cut their food budget tight between plane drops, and make psychological connections with both the herd instinct of the caribou and with each other as newlyweds.

Portraying the caribou instinct as a more jazzy, free-form version of the salmon's drive to spawn, their trek sheds valuable new light on caribou activities. It also underscores the fragility and the absolute importance of ANWR's 1002 Section.

To see just what is at stake on the side of the aisle opposite Exxon, and to fall in love with the Arctic North, read this book. Sixteen pages of full-color plates provide a wonderful photographic sidebar.

This is just a great book! It made me feel like I was part of this amazing journey and story and now it is part of my soul!

This book is gorgeous. I loved the writing; I couldn't put it down and was on the edge of my seat on every page. I felt exhausted and excited every time they hiked all day with the caribou and faced off grizzlies. A must read for anyone interested in wildlife, oil, nature, or your soul.

Great writing about an unusual trip, camping out while traveling with migratory caribou in the Artic. This husband/wife team come frightingly close to grizzlies, not to mention finding themsleves surrounded by the caribou themselves. I hated to end the book; I had come to feel myself along for the trip.

Being Caribou is a very enjoyable book that tells the story of a couple who spend several months following the Porcupine Caribou herd on their seasonal migration between Canada and Alaska to calving grounds in the Alaska National Wildlife Refuge.

The book is more than just a travel/adventure story. It provides valuable first hand details on this massive animal migration that has followed the same pattern for over 27,000 years. With over 120,000 animals, the herd must travel over 2,000-miles to give birth and return, while avoiding bears and wolves in one of the harshest environments on the planet. It delivers the message of how a few greedy people have tried to sell the American public on a sham of an oil deal that only has the potential to supply US petroleum needs for less than 6-months at the expense of the caribou.

"If every car in the US improved fuel economy by 1mpg we would save that much oil in a decade". He then describes the negative impact of the Prudhoe Bay oil fields that disrupted a different caribou herd (the abandoned the area), and gives examples of a 1700-gallon and 2000-gallon spill out of an average of 504 spills that contaminate the North Slope each year. The animals become very sensitive to disturbance during birthing and a drilling operation would prove completely disruptive.

My grandparents moved to Alaska in 1947 and I have been there 9-times, and this book should hopefully wake Americans up to the dishonest arguments that favor drilling. Unfortunately, with the dividends Alaskans receive from oil revenue and the poverty that depresses the Native populations, there are many in the state that support such a devastating measure.