An older adult male in casual wear interacts with a dark brown grizzly bear in an outdoor zoo or wildlife sanctuary enclosure, surrounded by greenery and concrete blocks. The scene is set during spring or summer with ample daylight. 2:26
Orphaned Wildlife Center channel icon Orphaned Wildlife CenterOriginal creator 203K views Save

Leo the grizzly has a scratch spot like a dog

Jim leans over and rests his head on Leo's back. Leo, a grizzly bear, lets him. more

Jim is a caretaker at the Orphaned Wildlife Center in New York, and of all the orphaned bears there, Leo is his favorite. Leo is not a cub anymore. He is a full-grown brown bear, and Jim sits right beside him.

A man in a blue shirt sits beside a large brown bear and rests his head on the bear's back. A headline runs in white letters across the lower third.Save
Jim leans in and rests his head on Leo's back.

For several minutes, Jim hugs him, rubs his fur and scratches his back. The huge bear is gentle about all of it, and that still amazes a lot of people.

At one point Leo lays his head down close to Jim's arm. The two of them sit together on the grass by the fence, with trees behind them and no hurry at all. One viewer called it the most relaxing couple of minutes they had spent in a long time.

A brown bear rests its head near a person's arm as both sit on grass beside a fence, with trees behind them. A headline runs in white letters across the lower third.Save
Leo rests his head close to Jim while they sit together on the grass.

Then Jim finds a spot on Leo's chest. When he scratches it, Leo's back leg starts to shake. It's the same little kick a dog gives when you find the right place on his belly.

Fans call it the funniest part. All at once Leo looks like an enormous dog getting a belly rub, and it's hard to remember he is a grizzly at all. Plenty of people say they envy Jim and wish they could hug a bear. One was quick to add that this friendship took a long time to build, and nobody should go hug a wild animal.

An older adult male in casual wear interacts with a dark brown grizzly bear in an outdoor zoo or wildlife sanctuary enclosure, surrounded by greenery and concrete blocks. The scene is set during spring or summer with ample daylight. The headline runs in white letters across the lower third.Save
Jim leans over and rests his head on Leo's back.

Leo usually looks serious, one fan says, like a bear lost in thought about something. That shaking back leg says the rest.