Bear Hug

[Horace]

look at those claws.

[Loki]

@brenda said in Bear Hug:

Wow. That's amazing. I would have thought the bear's natural instincts would have made it impossible to maintain a pet-like relationship as the bear aged.

My exact reaction. The humanity is truly inspiring, if the bear can do it, we should be able to with each other.

[LuFins Dad]

I prefer Beer Hugs

[George K]

RIP Jim Bear:

Link to video

Unfortunately, Jimbo started to feel ill in February. The Kowalczik family tried everything. They gave him medication, but it did not seem to help. Jimbo kept getting sicker and sicker.

At 24 years old, Jimbo had developed liver cancer. While he was in pain for most of the time, he was still the lovable, adorable bear that the family first fell in love with. As he became sicker, the family spent more time cuddling with Jimbo. They did their best to make him as comfortable as possible. A month later, Jimbo passed away. Susan and Jim could not believe that he was gone. After being such a big part of their family for more than 20 years, it seemed impossible to imagine a life without Jimbo. He was truly a one-of-a-kind bear

Help the Kowalczik family mourn the loss of this gentle giant by telling everyone you know about this story.

[George K]

"A question we get asked a lot is "have the bears ever hurt Jim or Susan?" We understand this is a really natural question, especially when you look at the SIZE of some of them. The answer is that for the most part the bears only hurt by accident and mostly it's by trying to grab Jim's clothes to pull him closer - and they wind up pinching his skin in the process. If you've ever had your skin pinched in something, it can be painful. Not as painful as say....maybe...a bear attack...but darn it hurts!! This is a GREAT video showing Jimbo and Jim very affectionate and playing and being loving, and then Jimbo goes to grab Jim's shirt and pinches him (I think twice in this video). You can see where a sharp yell from Jim has Jimbo immediately release him...so they really DO get it. So this video shows it all. The deep affection and love, and the correction if Jim is is getting pinched (and being a baby about it). Haha, just kidding Jim...."

[Klaus]

I've read too many stories where wild dangerous animals have been kept for many years and they were always peaceful, but then one day they snapped and killed their owner.

Call me cynical or mean, but a wild animal stays a wild animal. Bears are not meant to be pets, and it's silly to risk ones life.

[Copper]

Yup

I'm not getting one

[George K]

@klaus said in Bear Hug:

I've read too many stories where wild dangerous animals have been kept for many years and they were always peaceful, but then one day they snapped and killed their owner.
Call me cynical or mean, but a wild animal stays a wild animal. Bears are not meant to be pets, and it's silly to risk ones life.

Indeed. It's cute, but dumb AF and potentially dangerous as hell too.

Look at SIgfried and Roy. Those were supposedly "tame" lions.

[Boris]

@george-k said in Bear Hug:

Indeed. It's cute, but dumb AF and potentially dangerous as hell too.

[taiwan_girl]

@george-k said in Bear Hug: @Klaus

@klaus said in Bear Hug:

I've read too many stories where wild dangerous animals have been kept for many years and they were always peaceful, but then one day they snapped and killed their owner.
Call me cynical or mean, but a wild animal stays a wild animal. Bears are not meant to be pets, and it's silly to risk ones life.

Indeed. It's cute, but dumb AF and potentially dangerous as hell too.

Look at SIgfried and Roy. Those were supposedly "tame" lions.

I agree. We recently had a forum thread about chimpanzee who severely damaged his owners face by biting it.

A wild animal is a wild animal.