by When it comes to domestic pets, cats, dogs, and birds often come times but for this Russian couple, their domestic pet is not one you usually see. Their pet is a bear weighing over 300Ib named Stepan. It may sound unconventional – not to mention ᴅᴀɴɢᴇʀᴏᴜs – but for Svetlana and Yuriy Panteleenko they couldn’t fathom life without this bear.
Stepan, a domesticated pet bear who lives with his humans. The Panteleenkos adopted Stepan or Stephen bear when he was just a 3-month-old orphaned cub. He was found by ʜᴜɴᴛᴇʀs in a forest all alone, and in a ᴛᴇʀʀɪʙʟᴇ condition, so Svetlana and Yuriy decided to give the bear cub a home.
25 years later, Stepan has grown into a loving bear and standing a gorgeous 2.1 meters tall. Now, Stepan not only grows up to be a healthy and huge bear, but he is also loving and helpful. He’s even well behaved enough to sit with Svetlana and Yuriy to watch TV in the evenings. He’s been known to occasionally help around the house by watering the plants in their garden.
But living with a bear isn’t all fun and games. Because the bear is so large and such an unusual pet, he requires much of their time, money and energy. When it comes to mealtime, the bear, named Stepan, requires 25-30 kilograms of fish, eggs, and vegetables every single day.
Even though Stepan has never lived in the wild and is domesticated, a bear’s instinct can never be fully shut down. Remember that bears are top ᴘʀᴇᴅᴀᴛᴏʀs that, therefore extremely ᴅᴀɴɢᴇʀᴏᴜs. Even so, the couple said they have no worries regarding Stepan’s wild instincts. “He loves people and is a sociable bear – despite what people might think, he is not ᴀɢɢʀᴇssɪᴠᴇ at all,” said Stefan’s human mom. “We have never been ʙɪᴛᴛᴇɴ by him.”
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