Brutus was only two weeks old when he was rescued from certain death.
He had been born in a Montana reserve with too many bears and far too little space, so his fate was euthanasia. Casey Anderson, a naturalist, decided to raise him differently: not as an exotic pet, but as part of his family. Brutus grew until he weighed more than 360 kilos, and yet he still sat at the table on Thanksgiving alongside the humans who loved him.
In 2008, when Casey married actress Missi Pyle, Brutus was there, at the altar, as the best man. National Geographic documented that bond in ‘Expedition Grizzly’, and Casey went on to found Montana Grizzly Encounter, a sanctuary for bears that can no longer return to the wild. Brutus died in 2021, at the age of 19, leaving proof that a wild bear can live surrounded by respect rather than fear.