馬克·杜馬斯：我的游泳池里有只北極熊

Mark Dumas ：There’s a Polar Bear in My Pool

Some people dream of swimming with dolphins， while others have nightmares about swimming with sharks. But bear trainer Mark Dumas likes nothing more than to go for dip in a swimming pool where he and a 60 1）stone predator enjoy a watery cuddle together.

Mark’s unusual best friend is Agee， a full-size adult polar bear who stands at over seven feet when on her hind legs.

And when the wrestling has tired both the animal expert and huge Agee out， they both enjoy a nap together inside Agee’s enclosure and Agee clamp her huge jaws around Mark’s head.

It may seem like bear trainer Mark Dumas is risking his life by living with polar bear Agee， but the two share an incredibly intimate bond. Mark has been in the 2）bizarre industry of bear-training for the past 40 years and is an expert at reading Agee’s body language.

Mark， 60， and wife Dawn， 49， from Abbotsford， British Columbia （BC）， Canada， train the polar bear—the world’s largest land predator—to star in high-budget TV adverts. Agee even appeared in movies like Alaska in 1995 when she was just a few weeks old. With their incredibly intimate bond Agee even bear hugs owner Mark as she 3）rears up on her hind legs to over seven feet.

“If anyone else tried this they would end up as Agee’s dinner，” said Mark，“The only people in the whole world she likes are me and my wife. I have worked with bears in this way for over 40 years， so I can read Agee’s body language and know how to behave safely around her. But Agee is the boss and it’s her rules that count.”

Mark and Dawn took Agee on when she was just eight weeks old. With links to Hollywood through previous work with animals， Mark was approached by director Fraser Heston—the son of screen legend Charlton—16 years ago. Heston needed a polar bear cub for his forthcoming film Alaska and Mark found Agee—a surplus cub at Kolmarden Zoo， Sweden. Mark and Dawn went through a lengthy application to show they had the facilities to care for her. After being approved they transported the tiny cub—seen here at their old family home in Mission， BC， just after her arrival—to Canada.

“She lived inside our home for the first few weeks and

we hand-reared her，” said Mark， “Eventually a time came when she was so big we had to move her outside into her own

enclosure.” Now Agee spends her time living in her new enclosure on rented land near Mark and Dawn’s home in Abbotsford， and on the road working on TV and film sets.

At home， Mark enjoys “play time” with her. “Earlier in the morning she’s more playful and relaxed and she lets me roll around with her.

“We wrestle for fun and sometimes we fall asleep on her grassy lawn together. It’s a great way to unwind after a bad day. I feel pretty privileged to be able to nap with my head resting on a fully-grown polar bear.”

Later in the day—when they are preparing for filming—Mark “4）works” her， training Agee for the requested script requirements. Agee performs a variety of commands in exchange for her favourite treats—steak， cookies， salmon and chocolates.

On cue from Mark， she rears up on her hind legs and will even pretend she’s roaring when instructed to “smile”.“She doesn’t actually roar but she makes the action，” said animal handler Dawn. “Film crews will later add in the sound of the roar if that’s what they need for their production.”Agee will also lie down， crawl and sit up in return for reward foods.

Agee licks Mark’s face as they play around on the grass. “She loves her work，” said Mark. “They are extremely intelligent animals and you can see she gets enjoyment out of being stimulated through her work. She could never have lived wild so it’s important to us that we keep her active and thinking. That’s why I like swimming with her and playing on the lawn.”

In the evenings Agee is fed on mountains of proteinrich salmon， chicken or other meats， along with carbohydrates she gets from high-quality dog food and vitamin supplements.“In the wild she would be eating seal but we can’t buy that so we have to try and 5）replicate a fat-rich diet，” said Mark.“Because they 6）scavenge in the summer—when they are off the sea ice and on dry land—they have very adaptable diets.

Amazingly， Agee seems to have favourites between men and women. “She gets very jealous of other women talking to Mark，” said Dawn. “She’s happy with me doing it but if any other women are around she gets very possessive of him.”

This is exactly what it’s like to share your life with a polar bear.

有人夢想與海豚同游，也有人做過與鯊共泳的噩夢。但馴熊師馬克·杜馬斯最愛和一只60英石重的食肉動物一起泡在游泳池里，享受在水中依偎的感覺。

馬克與眾不同的摯友艾吉是一只完全長成的雌性成年北極熊，她用后腿站立時超過七英尺高。

當這位動物專家和大塊頭的艾吉在水中嬉鬧較勁得累壞以后，艾吉會用她的巨大爪子環(huán)抱著馬克的頭，他們一起在艾吉的圍場里享受午覺。

馴熊師馬克·杜馬斯似乎在拿自己的生命和北極熊艾吉同居，但其實他們的關(guān)系親密得令人難以置信。馬克在非同尋常的馴熊業(yè)從業(yè)已有40年，他對艾吉的身體語言了如指掌。

60歲的馬克及其49歲的妻子唐恩來自加拿大不列顛哥倫比亞省（簡稱卑詩省）阿伯茨福德，他們共同馴養(yǎng)這世界上最大的陸地食肉動物——北極熊，使其出演高成本電視廣告。甚至在1995年的《阿拉斯加》這樣的電影里也有艾吉的身影，當年她才幾周大。由于艾吉和主人馬克的親密關(guān)系，七英尺多高的艾吉甚至?xí)煤笸戎绷⑵饋斫o馬克來個熊抱。

“其他人如果嘗試這個舉動，他們最終會淪為艾吉的晚餐。”馬克說，“這個世界上艾吉只喜歡我和我妻子。我和熊像這樣共處已經(jīng)40多年了，所以我能讀懂艾吉的身體語言，知道在她身邊什么行為是安全的。但艾吉是老大，她‘說’了算。”

艾吉八周大的時候，馬克和唐恩就開始飼養(yǎng)她。由于馬克先前有過為好萊塢作品訓(xùn)練動物的經(jīng)驗，16年前，銀幕傳奇人物查爾頓的兒子弗雷澤·赫斯頓導(dǎo)演聯(lián)系了馬克。……