Casey Anderson and Brutus: The Grizzly He Raised From a Cub

Casey Anderson is a Montana naturalist and wildlife television presenter, and Brutus was the grizzly bear he raised from a small cub. The pair became famous through TV documentaries, viral videos and a wedding at which Brutus served as best man. The popular version of the story says Anderson found an abandoned cub on a hike. The real story is different, and in some ways more interesting: Brutus was born in captivity, in an overcrowded wildlife park, and Anderson took him in when the cub’s future looked bleak.

Here is what is known about the two of them, the sanctuary Brutus inspired, and why their friendship is not a guide to meeting bears in the wild.

How Brutus came to live with Casey Anderson

Anderson grew up in East Helena, Montana, and studied wildlife biology at Montana State University in Bozeman. In 2002 he adopted a grizzly cub from Yellowstone Bear World, a drive-through wildlife park near Yellowstone National Park. According to ABC News, the park had too many bears, and the cub faced either a life on display or being put down.

A bear born and handled in captivity cannot simply be released. It has never learned to find food, avoid other bears or keep away from people, and a grizzly that associates humans with care can become dangerous as it grows. So Anderson took responsibility for Brutus himself, raising him from the time he was a small, round cub he affectionately described as a “fuzzy Twinkie.”

Montana Grizzly Encounter

A grown male grizzly can weigh several hundred kilograms; ABC News put Brutus at about 800 pounds, or roughly 360 kg. No house can hold an animal like that. In 2004 Anderson founded the Montana Grizzly Encounter Rescue and Educational Sanctuary near Bozeman, built largely so Brutus would have a proper home.

The sanctuary went on to take in other grizzlies rescued from poor captive conditions, bears that could not be returned to the wild. It also opened to visitors, with a focus on teaching people how grizzlies live and how to coexist with them. Anderson has said his goal is to correct common myths about bears and to show that people and bears can share a landscape when people follow the rules.

The bear who was best man

In September 2008 Anderson married the actress Missi Pyle at Holland Lake Lodge in Montana, and Brutus was named best man. He did not walk down the aisle, but he appeared in some of the wedding photos and was given cake. The story spread widely, and the image of a grizzly at a wedding became part of the pair’s fame. The couple later divorced, and in 2016 Anderson married Stephanie Gazda.

Anderson also wrote about the relationship in a book, The Story of Brutus: My Life With Brutus the Bear and the Grizzlies of North America, published by Pegasus Books in 2010.

From sanctuary to television

Brutus first reached a wide audience in 2006, appearing with Anderson in “Expedition Grizzly,” an episode of a National Geographic Channel wildlife series. Anderson then hosted and produced Expedition Wild from 2010 to 2014, shown on the National Geographic Channel and Nat Geo WILD, and later presented America the Wild with Casey Anderson on Nat Geo WILD from 2013 to 2015.

The video below shows Anderson and Brutus together. What viewers see is a bond built over years of daily contact by a trained handler, not a chance meeting on a trail.

Brutus died in February 2021, at the age of 19.

What Brutus taught Anderson about bears

Anderson has said that living with a grizzly showed him that bears have distinct personalities and a wide range of emotions. He has also been blunt about the risks. In a 2013 interview with LiveScience he strongly discouraged anyone from keeping a bear, explaining that his case was unusual because he was a trained animal handler and the cub would otherwise have been killed.

That message matters, because videos of a man hugging a grizzly can give the wrong impression. Brutus was a captive-born animal raised by one person from infancy. Wild grizzlies are not like that, and treating them as if they were puts both people and bears at risk.

If you meet a bear in the wild

The US National Park Service gives clear advice for bear country. Keep your distance and avoid surprising bears, for example by making noise on the trail. If you do meet one:

Stay calm, speak in a low, steady voice and stand your ground while slowly waving your arms, so the bear can tell you are a person.
Do not run, and do not climb a tree; grizzlies and black bears can both climb.
If the bear is not moving, back away slowly and sideways, and always leave it an escape route.
Pick up small children straight away, and never come between a mother and her cubs.
Carry bear spray made for bears, and know how to use it. It is a deterrent, not a repellent to put on your body or gear.
Never let a bear get human food. Bears that learn to associate people with food become a danger to everyone who comes after you.

If a grizzly attacks, the Park Service advises lying flat on your stomach with your hands clasped behind your neck, and fighting back only if the attack continues. The advice differs for black bears, so check the guidance for the park you are visiting.

The story of Casey Anderson and Brutus is a genuine one about care and responsibility. Its real lesson is that a captive bear needed a lifetime of commitment, and that the best thing most of us can do for wild bears is to give them space.

Sources: ABC News, April 2009: Living With Brutus, the 800-Pound Bear; Wikipedia: Casey Anderson (naturalist); LiveScience, August 2013; US National Park Service: Staying Safe Around Bears; video via YouTube; earlier coverage by Nature Knows.

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