our community of snow athletes are united in the fight to protect our winters and the wildlife and cultures which depend on them.
Brown Bears
Brown bears were once common across northern Britain following the end of the last ice age, when the glaciers of Helvellyn and Scafell Pike retreated.
They roamed the fells and moors alongside wolves and lynx, foraging berries and roots in the forests and preying on deer.
Evidence from bear bones found in a cave in the Yorkshire Dales indicates that the last wild Brown beard went extinct in the early medieval period, following persecution by humans and the decline of forest habitat.
Domestic bears were still kept and imported from Europe, used for ‘sport’ in brutal bear baiting, which saw bears tied to a wooden frame as dogs attacked it.
Bear baiting was especially common in London along the River Thames, although the bears used for this event were all imported from mainland Europe at this point.
In the centuries since the last bears of England died out, deer populations have exploded.
The lack of hunting pressure on deer herds has caused the barren, overgrazed landscapes that are now common across the UK, and that were once covered by healthy, native woodlands.
Despite being the largest carnivore in the holocene, very little is known about the last brown bears of Britain.
Despite this, efforts to re-wild Brown bears across mainland Europe have proven to be successful, with projects in the Alps and Pyrenees both seeing bears slowly return to their native alpine habitats.
There is inevitably however, an immense amount of controversy surrounding these releases.
Farmers across the region continue to oppose the reintroductions for fear of the impact on livestock, although reimbursement programs are in place in the event of a bear-caused livestock death.
Will bears ever be released in Britain?
The reintroduction of British brown bears is many years away.
Right now, opposition from farmers and politicians is making it extremely difficult to reintroduce the Eurasian lynx - a native predator that has no history of attacking humans.
What’s more, a viable population of Brown bears will need an extensive area of connected, healthy woodland at a size not currently seen in the UK, and one that only Scotland could feasibly sustain based on current urbanization.
Despite this, the British re-wilding movement - thanks in large part to the successful reintroduction of the Eurasian beaver - is growing momentum at a promising speed.
It is only a matter of time before approval is given to trial the reintroduction of Eurasian lynx, and within our lifetime, serious discussion will turn to the reintroduction of a wolf population in Scotland.
It is not impossible therefore, that genuine efforts to reintroduce Brown bears will take place in the event that wolves be allowed to roam the fells and forests of Britain once more.
Of course the reintroduction of such a famed predator as the Brown bear may at first appear daunting to many.
When threatened, bears will behave aggressively towards humans - although strong education and awareness of bear behaviour in countries like Canada means that encounters with bears are minimized and very often end without incident.
It goes without saying however, that the prospect of reintroducing bears into Britain - a country so devoid of predators and large wildlife - is hard to imagine.
It is important to consider the ecological benefits of Brown bears, not only in regards to controlling deer populations, but also in the dispersal of seeds - with vegetation comprising a much larger proportion of their diet than meat.
What are we doing to help?
Although we recognize that the reintroduction of British brown bears may not take place in our lifetime, we strongly believe that Brown bears have a key ecological role to play in the natural balance of the British forest.
We do envision a landscape where wolves roam the fells and Brown bears forage on the high slopes of England and Scotland.
Right now we are using our platform to carefully grow and encourage discussion about the reintroduction of large predators like bears - focusing on the ecological importance of these species.
To do this we started with art - an integral part of culture - and designed our Bjornfell logo to incorporate the British brown bear, a nod to our ultimate goal of restoring a Britain where wolves, lynx, beavers and bears are all present, with bears likely to be the last of these species to be reintroduced and therefore representing the end of our mission.
Our immediate focus remains on the reintroduction of Eurasian lynx, and we hope that one day we will be able to raise money for the trial project of a British wolf population.