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Crisp copy with a sturdy binding and light shelf wear. Dust jacket has very minor wear, appears to be unread. Sticker on front flyleaf. A great, readable copy! Crisp copy with a sturdy binding and light shelf wear. Dust jacket has very minor wear, appears to be unread. Sticker on front flyleaf. A great, readable copy! See less
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Being Caribou Hardcover – October 27, 2005

by Karsten Heuer (Author)
4.3 4.3 out of 5 stars 12 ratings
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2007 Sigurd F. Olson Nature Writing Award Winner, 2006 Independent Book Publisher Award Winner in Travel Essays, 2006 National Outdoor Book Award Winner in Outdoor Literature
  • Wildlife biologist Karsten Heuer and filmmaker Leanne Allison spend five months migrating on foot with more than 100,000 caribou
  • Both gripping adventure and stark portrayal of an Arctic ecosystem threatened by oil development
  • Being Caribou, the film created by the author and his wife, won the 2005 Telluride Film Festival "Best Environmental Film Award"
It was a very different kind of honeymoon. In April 2003, wildlife biologist Karsten Heuer and his newlywed wife, filmmaker Leanne Allison, set off on an epic adventure: to follow the Porcupine caribou herd as it migrated from its Yukon winter range to its endangered Alaskan calving grounds in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge -- and back. What they learned along the way would not only show what was at stake in the decades-old debate about whether or not to drill those same calving grounds for oil, but also what was possible when two people immerse themselves in a wild, intact landscape for five months.

For more than a thousand miles, Heuer and Allison traveled the roadless, trailless, structureless expanse of northern Yukon and Alaska. Both on foot and on skis, they tracked caribou over four mountain ranges, hundreds of passes, and dozens of rivers. To keep up, they knew they would have to move, act, and even think like caribou, skiing and walking with no schedule, no route plan, and no objective other than finding and staying with the wild herd. The result was an adventure that brought them face to face with wolves, hungry grizzly bears, voracious mosquitoes, Arctic blizzards, and the need for an open mind. Physically and mentally exhausted, the young couple found themselves on the cusp of a different way of knowing, and, after months of migrating, walked into a dimension of consciousness neither had experienced before.

Being Caribou is more than a story of grand adventure and an endangered caribou herd. It is a story about the roots of human instinct that are alive in all of us, and how wild landscapes and wild animals hold the power to release them from the avalanche of technology and advertising that typifies the modern civilized world.



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Previous page
  1. Reading age
    8 - 12 years
  2. Print length
    256 pages
  3. Language
    English
  4. Grade level
    Preschool - 2
  5. Lexile measure
    930L
  6. Dimensions
    6.2 x 0.98 x 9.26 inches
  7. Publisher
    Braided River
  8. Publication date
    October 27, 2005
  9. ISBN-10
    1594850100
  10. ISBN-13
    978-1594850103
  11. See all details
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Editorial Reviews

From Booklist

On assignment, Canadian wildlife biologist and newly minted park ranger Heuer found himself surrounded by caribou as at least 10,000 cows and calves streamed by on their annual migration. Spurred by this vast movement of animals and by the news that their calving grounds lie in the heart of the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge--the area most contested between oil companies and environmentalists--the author and his wife decided to follow the herd from its wintering grounds to the calving area and back again. Accompanying the caribou across the trackless tundra, cross-country skiing when possible, the two repeatedly found and lost the caribou as they struggled to keep up. Sitting in their tent between calving caribou cows, and following the herd as it makes its way back to Canada, the Heuers realize that they are moving to and guided by forces beyond human understanding--that they are being caribou. A marvelous, elegiac book. Nancy Bent
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved

Review

It's a very rare thing to read words on a page that cause goose bumps to rise on your skin in response to the story they tell… By [the] last pages of Being Caribou readers might experience not only goose bumps but tears. ― Rocky Mountain Outlook

A marvelous, elegiac book. ― Booklist

For an appreciation of the native fauna and the threats they face, this is the book to read. ― Dividends Newsletter (Newsletter of the Continental Divide T

A journey well worth taking for readers who want to viscerally understand what's at stake in the battle over drilling in the Arctic. ― Audubon

What [Karsten Heuer and Leanne Allison] learned should be enough to make you write angry letters to those in Washington who want to drill for oil in the refuge. It might even inspire you to trade in your gas-guzzling SUV. ― Blue Ridge Outdoors

The strength of the book is getting into the rhythm of the animals. To experience the pulsations of their movements. To sense how bears and wolves affect their lives. To marvel at how caribou move so gracefully through a landscape. To hear. To smell. To be caribou. ― Washington Trails

Both [Karsten Heuer and Leanne Allison] paint a haunting picture of the Arctic and the animals who live there. ― Oregonian

Heuer keeps the pages turning as he examines the many different sides of the ANWR development issue, while telling the intimate story of the caribou that stand to lose the most. ― E Magazine

We felt privileged to have Karsten Heuer join our Stegner Lecture Series. His emphasis on the importance of preserving wild places and the need we have as humans to know that such places exist strongly echoes Stegner's idea of wilderness as not just a physical place but "an intangible and spiritual resource." Karsten's multimedia presentation and his beautiful photographs and video clips reinforced his book reading and discussion about the journey he and his wife Leanne Alison made on foot to follow the Porcupine Caribou herd from the Yukon to their calving grounds in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge. His story-and his presentation-can only be described as inspirational. -- Jan Nystrom, Associate Director ― The Wallace Stegner Center

"The book is full of outstanding photographs, particularly those that show the vast terrain behind the herds. The resources on the final page are also incredible, particularly the websites that show the seasonal movements of the herd. Being Caribou is an outstanding piece of nonfiction as it combines fact, intrigue and contemporary purpose." ― The Daily Republic, SD

"The writing is incredibly vivid as Heuer describes encounters with wolves and the hallucinations he suffered toward the end of the journey when the caribou marched nearly nonstop…[a] fascinating nonfiction that will be welcomed by report writers, animal lovers, and outdoor enthusiasts." ― Booklist

The adventure [Karsten Heuer] described is utterly unique and profoundly revealing. Karsten's modest demeanor serves to focus his message on the important lessons he learned and the caribou themselves rather than the heroic nature of his journey. I cannot imagine anyone not being moved by this memorable experience." -- Everett "Chip" Ward, Assistant Director ― The Salt Lake City Public Library

"A story that needed to be told has been very well told indeed." ― Globe and Mail, Toronto, ON

Product details

  • Publisher ‏ : ‎ Braided River; First Edition (October 27, 2005)
  • Language ‏ : ‎ English
  • Hardcover ‏ : ‎ 256 pages
  • ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 1594850100
  • ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-1594850103
  • Reading age ‏ : ‎ 8 - 12 years
  • Lexile measure ‏ : ‎ 930L
  • Grade level ‏ : ‎ Preschool - 2
  • Item Weight ‏ : ‎ 1.13 pounds
  • Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 6.2 x 0.98 x 9.26 inches
  • Customer Reviews:
    4.3 4.3 out of 5 stars 12 ratings

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Karsten Heuer

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Customer reviews

4.3 out of 5 stars
4.3 out of 5
12 global ratings

Top reviews from the United States

Wesley R.
5.0 out of 5 stars Five Stars
Reviewed in the United States on June 26, 2018
Verified Purchase
ONCE IT GETS GOING, ALMOST A LATE NIGHT ONE-READ PAGE TURNER.
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A. Smith
3.0 out of 5 stars Pretty good
Reviewed in the United States on October 19, 2006
His message on the caribou herd is 5 star message. It is a shame what may happen to the caribou herd if or when drilling happens. All in all a pretty good book.
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Janet du Barrie
5.0 out of 5 stars Five Stars
Reviewed in the United States on May 1, 2015
Verified Purchase
Photographs are a delight.
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Melinda
4.0 out of 5 stars What an adventure
Reviewed in the United States on December 18, 2017
Really interesting. Amazing people. Good pictures.

I would have liked a little more detail, a little more about the survival aspects and about the animals, but it was still very interesting.
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NWOutdoorGrrl
5.0 out of 5 stars 1st rate adventure tale and environmental lesson about ANWR
Reviewed in the United States on January 3, 2006
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.
14 people found this helpful
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John Matlock
5.0 out of 5 stars Adventure in a Place Most of us Will Never Visit
Reviewed in the United States on October 18, 2006
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.
One person found this helpful
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Suzie Hemphill
5.0 out of 5 stars Gorgeous book...
Reviewed in the United States on February 5, 2010
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.
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Karla Hart
5.0 out of 5 stars An Epic Journey - understated
Reviewed in the United States on May 16, 2009
I'm a lifelong Alaskan conservationist so I didn't read this book to convince myself that saving the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge is important. That's a given. I read it as an epic human-powered adventure story, my favorite type of read. This stands as one of the very best. The writing is beautiful. The author is likeable. The journey incredible, and so understated (no dwelling on the multitude of hardships, yet they are acknowledged and associated emotions captured).
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