Bart the Bear Was Born in Baltimore

Yes, Bart the Bear — made famous in the Grizzly Adams TV series and over 15 movies and 15 documentaries — was an Alaskan Brown Bear born at the Baltimore Zoo in 1977.

Bart was the product of an unplanned pregnancy and the zoo allegedly lacked the facilities to care for the cub, and so it was sold at 5 pounds and 5 weeks old to Hollywood animal trainers Doug and Lynne Seus.

Why do I say “allegedly”?

Well, the story of zoo births and money is not a particularly attractive tale. As I noted back in 2009:

“Canned big game shoots of exotic animals are a natural outgrowth of the public's fascination with ‘zoo babies’.

“Zoos routinely over-breed animals because tiger cubs and baby zebras boost attendance and generate profits. Cute baby animals quickly grow up, however, and that's a problem. It turns out that the world has more caged lions, tigers and zebras than it knows what to do with.

“What to do? Answer: canned shooting preserves in Texas. It's not an accident that at one point nine board members of the San Antonio Zoo owned hunt preserves.

“Not all exotic animals used in canned hunts come from large zoos. Many come from small zoos and private breeders of large exotic animals. If you have a checkbook in this country, you can buy anything from a lion to a bear, and from a bobcat to a gemsbok.

“And if you have ever bought a wildife magazine with amazing shots of baby cougars, lynx, red fox, black bear and wolf, you are a small part of the problem. Most of those pictures were taken in private ‘photography zoos,’ and at least some of those baby animals were later sold, as adults, to canned hunts.

“An example is as current as this morning's headlines:

"’Country music star Troy Lee Gentry (one half of popular duo Montgomery Gentry) is facing charges for shooting a tame, captive bear and then trying to mask the killing as a proper hunt.... Indictment documents made public this week showed that Gentry paid $4,650 U.S. to kill a 'trophy-caliber' bear named Cubby. The incident took place two years ago at the Minnesota Wildlife Connection, a company that claims to offer photographers a chance to capture wild animals on film. ... Gentry killed the bear using a bow and arrow while the animal was in its pen.’”

So what were the real circumstances surrounding Bart’s birth?  I have no idea, but an “unplanned pregnancy” of a Kodiak Bear who is quickly sold strikes me as slightly suspicious.

That said, Bart had a glorious, well-loved, and long life, and he did wonders for bear conservation.

But was it an accident that Bart was sold just as he first opened his eyes?

No, of course not. That’s exactly when you snatch a wild animal away from its mother if you are looking to shape the animal by leveraging Limbic Imprinting.