Chris Tarrant faced huge Russian bear after vodka jelly hangover
Chris Tarrant shared dramatic stories about bears and trophy hunting yesterday when he joined his son Toby Tarrant who was sitting in on The Chris Moyles Show on Radio X.
Broadcasting legend Chris revealed he once survived a terrifying close encounter with a huge brown bear in Russia while sleeping off a vodka jelly hangover.
He described how feigning death may have saved his life, explaining: “I was feeling quite rough so I lay down in a nice bit of moss to sleep.
“When I woke up, this great big Russian bear was looking at me thinking, ‘What’s that silly little white English person doing there?’ But it just walked away. Later, I found out the best way to survive is to lie still and feign death. In a way, me lying there probably saved my own life.”
Chris also described an unusual moment in Alaska when a wild mother bear left her two tiny cubs next to him while she went fishing for salmon.
“He told Toby and Dominic Byrne: “She just plonked them down a couple of yards away and wandered off to catch a salmon. The guide said she knew with me there, no big male bear would come near them. It’s like babysitting. I learned so much out there.”
Promoting his new book For The Love Of Bears, Chris showed his disgust at trophy hunting, especially by British hunters. He told listeners he assumed trophy hunting was mainly an American issue but discovered it happens in the UK too.
“People can get a licence to go out and kill a polar bear and bring it home stuffed,” he explained. “The lion population is really under threat. Since Cecil the lion was killed 10 years ago, British trophy hunters have killed 100 lions. Bears, cheetahs, everything – endangered species. It’s terrible!”
His son Toby reacted with shock, saying he didn’t realise people from Britain still did that. Chris added he has been trying to get the practice banned in the UK, saying, “It’s banned in Australia, banned in France, they’ve even talked about banning it in America. Brits shoot loads of lions, elephants, whatever, and bring them home. It’s unbelievable that we’re still doing it.”
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Tune into The Chris Moyles Show on Radio X weekdays from 6:30am – 10am and on Global Player.