Charlie Vandergaw

Charles Edward Vandergaw (June 2, 1938 – March 30, 2025) was an American schoolteacher from Anchorage, Alaska. He was known for having spent over 30 years of his life living amongst bears in the state of Alaska. Vandergaw was the subject of a 2009 Animal Planet documentary titled Stranger Among Bears.

Charlie Vandergaw
Born	Charles Edward Vandergaw (1938-06-02)June 2, 1938 Lakeview, Oregon, U.S.
Died	March 30, 2025(2025-03-30) (aged 86) Anchorage, Alaska, U.S.
Occupations	Schoolteacher Wrestling coach Lodge operator Animal behaviorist
Years active	1980s–2025

Biography

Charles Edward Vandergaw was born on June 2, 1938 in Lakeview, Oregon. Vandergaw moved to Anchorage, Alaska in 1964 and soon found work as a schoolteacher. For much of his career, he worked as a science teacher and wrestling coach at Dimond High School. By 1988, after retiring from this profession,^[1] he began pursuing a passion for outdoors-related activities. This included what was originally intended as a hunting lodge, but instead became a facility for viewing bears, located at the foot of a mountain in the Yentna River valley. He was the subject of a 2009 television documentary series titled Stranger Among Bears aired on Animal Planet.^[2]

Although against the law of the State of Alaska,^[3] the repeated and regular feeding of grizzlies and black bears over many years enabled Vandergaw to habituate these animals to him, thus allowing him to studying their patterns of behavior. In 2010, Vandergaw pleaded guilty to violation of the law, and was given a 180-days suspended jail sentence, plus a $20,000 fine.^[4][5]

Vandergaw died at home on March 30, 2025 after a four-year battle with Parkinson's disease. He was 86.^[6]