B.C. biologist puts scientific stamp on bear postage series

A B.C. bear expert has put her stamp of approval on a new Canadian postal series featuring bears.

The stamps show extreme close-up portraits of grizzly, black, polar, and Kermode bears.

'The soul of the animal'

"The photographer did a fabulous job capturing the soul of the animal through its face," said Lana Ciarniello, a wildlife biologist and research scientist who co-chairs the human-bear conflict expert team for the International Union for the Conservation of Nature.

"I think [the stamps] are absolutely wonderful," said Ciarniello, who lives on Vancouver Island and has worked extensively in northern B.C. 

The scientist was delighted when Canada Post asked her and another B.C. biologist to fact-check the information included with the bear stamps.

But examining fragile postage stamps was quite a departure from her field work. Ciarniello is accustomed to radio collaring grizzlies, entering black bear dens, or observing bruins in the wild.

"I had no idea that postage stamps used fact-checkers and to what extent [Canada Post] went to make sure everything was correct," she said.

For example, Ciarniello corrected a portion of the written information that suggested making a connection with the bears' eyes.

Ciarniello said while that might be a good photography tip, it's not something any bear expert would ever advise.

"That's actually an aggressive stance for a bear, if you look directly in to the eyes," said Ciarniello. "It was those kind of things we would pick up on and say, 'Maybe we want to word this a bit differently.'"

Now that the stamps have been issued, Ciarniello is focusing on her field work. "Bears are majestic creatures. They really represent the wilderness of Canada," she said.

Canada Post says it's honouring the bears on permanent, domestic stamps as "iconic symbols of our wild places."