The grizzly bear is considered by many to be the most dangerous animal in the world. But there is one man, Canadian conservationist Charlie Russel, who thinks differently. He believes that grizzlies are misunderstood animals and that our fear of them is not only unnecessary but driving them to extinction. His beliefs have taken him to Russia where he has been raising orphaned grizzly bear cubs for the past ten years in the wilderness of Southern Kamchatka peninsula. Becoming their surrogate mother he struggles to keep his cubs alive and teach them everything they need to survive a life in the wild. The film follows Russell as he rescues two orphaned cubs from a zoo where they are soon to be killed and takes them to his cabin in the remote sanctuary. Over the course of one season the cubs have to learn the lay of the land, what plants to eat, how to catch fish and how to escape from predatory male bears. The film shows extraordinary scenes of Russell encountering adult grizzlies and holding his ground while protecting his charges. Raising orphaned grizzly bear cubs, Charlie has been given a rare insight into their world.