The Bear Whisperer

Doug Seus made his name by mastering a near-impossible and perilous feat: training grizzly bears for Hollywood films. Then he came up with a radical, equally ambitious plan to protect the species that he holds dear.

- By Rick Bass

GRIZZLIES HAVE BEEN extinct in Utah for nearly a century, but there’s a giant one in Doug Seus’ backyard. When the bear sees Doug, it hurries through an open chain-link gate—and charges. A magpie swoops out of the way. The 1,250-pound bear closes in, stops, and rises to its nine-foot height. At age 78, Doug is still burly, but the bear, now just yards away, could easily knock him off his feet and ragdoll him around. Instead, the giant wraps its arms around Doug, delighted. The grizzly wants to play.

Seus, an animal trainer and a grizzly advocate, steps toward the bear, named Little Bart, and meets his embrace. Little Bart leans in, and they begin to waltz. Dressed in jeans and a red flannel shirt, Doug almost disappears next to the animal. When Little Bart wraps his jaws around Doug’s head, Doug pushes back. “Ahhh,” he says. “No.” Little Bart is getting carried away; Doug smacks his huge shoulders. Little Bart pulls back, releases Doug, and then swats him on the shoulder with a paw, as if to say, You know I was only funnin’.