MISSOULA, Mont. (AP) – Pioneering bear researcher and advocate Charles “Chuck” Jonkel died of natural causes at a Montana nursing home, his son Jamie Jonkel said.
Chuck Jonkel died Tuesday evening in Missoula. He was 85.
Jonkel led the Border Grizzly Project shortly after the bears were placed under the protection of the Endangered Species Act in 1975. He founded the International Wildlife Film Festival in Missoula, which sought scientifically accurate films. He also was a former president of the Great Bear Foundation, which works to protect grizzly, black and polar bears across North America.
His career included polar bear research in the Canadian Arctic and teaching as a faculty member of the University of Montana’s Environmental Studies program.
Fellow instructor Dan Pletscher said many students came to Missoula specifically to study with Jonkel.