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Else Poulsen helps us better understand bears by providing an enlightening and moving portrait of them in all their richness and complexity in her book Smiling Bears. Else is known internationally for her work in captive bear husbandry and rehabilitation. 

In the eighties, Poulsen became a zookeeper in Calgary, Canada, where she rehabilitated bears in crisis. She has shared in the joy of a polar bear discovering soil under her paws for the first time in 20 years, felt the pride of a cub learning to crack nuts with her molars, and grieved at the horror of seeing captive Asian black bears on bile farms in China. In an excerpt from her book Smiling Bears, Poulsen writes ...

I crouched down and peered through the barred end of the crate. At the opposite end sat a small female polar bear with her back to me. Expecting no response, I quietly called her name: “Bärlein,” which means “little bear” in German. She turned around and came over, looking me right in the eyes; we were nose to nose. 

We were in the middle of the FedEx warehouse at the Detroit Metropolitan Wayne County Airport, and the hangar-amplified noise of banging machinery, motorized equipment, and confusion of people doing their jobs was psychotropic — at least to me, and not in a good way. Bärle didn’t seem bothered by it at all. But then, she had spent her entire adult life in what amounted to a crate in a circus environment, surrounded by incessant noise and sadly habituated to being treated like cargo. Odd as it may seem, her crate was the only place where she was safe, where no one could physically hurt her. Read more

Today Poulsen works as an animal management consultant for zoos, sanctuaries, wildlife rehabilitators and other animal welfare groups. She is also president of the founding Board of Directors of the non-profit Bear Care Group, which is comprised of professionals who care for bears. Poulsen lives in southern Ontario. Her book is available from Barnes & Noble, Amazon and Greystone.