Hercules: the grizzly bear who became family

Maggie Robin raised a bear cub who grew into an extraordinary companion.

When Maggie Robin and her wrestler husband Andy brought home a bear cub in 1970s Scotland, their friends thought they were mad. But the couple raised him as one of the family. Named Hercules, the tiny cub grew into a towering but gentle bear who slept by the fire, played in the garden and travelled everywhere with them. Attitudes towards keeping wild animals have changed since then, but at the time, Hercules was something of a celebrity and even appeared on film, on chat shows across the world, and met the then Prime Minister. To Maggie though, ‘Herc’ was simply family. Then one day, while filming in the Highlands, Hercules slipped his leash and vanished into the wild, sparking a nationwide search.

 Archive clips came from Hercules The Bear, A Love Story courtesy of Friel Kean Films.

Presenter: Mobeen Azhar Producer: Edgar Maddicott

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