Watch: Couple living with grizzly bear they adopted 25 years ago say he 'loves people' and is 'very sociable'
A couple in Russia have been sharing their house with a 300lb grizzly bear they adopted 25 years ago. Svetlana and Yuriy Panteleenko say they cannot bear the thought of leaving behind their 25-year-old bear Stepan. The couple recently shared a video of their unconventional pet and the seven-foot mammal makes both the husband and wife look like dwarves.
In spite of his imposing build, Stepan is as domesticated as a pet dog or cat and even watches TV with Svetlana and Yuriy.
Stepan might be even better than your average pet. He is known to help around the house whenever he can and even waters the plants in their garden.
Just like in the story of Goldilocks and the Three Bears, Stepan has the unique ability to gulp down bowls and bowls of porridge whenever the opportunity presents itself. However, his most favorite dish in the house is a far cry from age-old porridge: its a can of condensed milk.
The mighty pet comes with the mighty responsibility. It takes a lot of time, effort and money for the couple to keep their pet well-fed and healthy. UNILAD reports that the couple feeds Stepan 25 kg of fish, vegetables, and eggs for his meals on a daily basis.
However, Stepan, who has a penchant for football, is an extremely active bear. Therefore, the weight that he piles on from his daily meals somehow or the other gets worked off eventually.
The tall grizzly bear that we see now came into the lives of Svetlana and Yuriy when they found him at the young age of three and ended up adopting him. In the last 25 years, Stepan has become an integral part of the Russian family. They claim that he has a gentle temperament and is often found curled up on their sofa.
"Stepan likes nothing more than to cuddle up with us on the sofa at night while we’re watching television. When we adopted him, he was only three months old and had been found by hunters in the forest having lost his mother. He was in a very bad condition," Svetlana said.
"He absolutely loves people and is a really sociable bear – despite what people might think, he is not aggressive at all. We have never been bitten by Stepan. He’s got so many talents and loves a picnic."