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According to officialdom, grizzly bears are extinct in Colorado, but rumour has it that some are still holed up in the San Juan Mountains. Rick Bass, the author of The Lost Grizzlies (Houghton Mifflin, $22.95, ISBN 0 395 71759 0) set out to find them. The tale of the search for the magnificent beasts is strung through with philosophical thoughts about humanity’s relationship with animals and the wilderness. Homespun characters abound. Amazingly, not a single picture of Bass’s quarry.