[Beast buddies.]

[Our big bear family.]

Our bear family is like every other family and stuff, you love them to death, but there's other times they drive you nuts, right?

Jim and Susan run a centre for orphaned wildlife in Otisville, New York.

I'm there every day, but he is the one that walks in the door and everybody lights up.

You know and it's kind of funny, because they just love him to death.

C'mon, go inside or get out of the way.

And I'm the one that does all the work and he just has to walk in the door.

This is Jimmy, a 21-year-old Kodiak bear rescued from a closing wildlife park.

He's just one of the eleven bears that lives with them.

They'll knock you around a little bit and stuff, nothing, you know, not maliciously, you know, but you gotta watch you don't get scratched or poked in the eye or something.

You know better than that, what're you doing?

It's all right.

They could kill you, you know.

He'd just have to hit you one time.

Kodiak bears are one of the largest species in the world.

He's about 1400 pounds and if he stood up on you on his hind legs, he'd probably be about 9 feet tall.

Think the strongest person you know or whatever and you can magnify that by a thousand times.

Yeah, he's big!

I mean, a small bear will kick your butt and he's got so much strength, all he would have to do is lay on you.

He's like them, he's like a bear.

He has no, no fear of them, it's really amazing!

We've had Jimmy for 21 years now, got him as a little cub and he's been with us his whole life.

Taking care of bears throughout their lives means that Jim and Susan develop deep bonds with the animals.

Is it the same as like someone who is mourning their child?

Yeah, it's, you know, it's the same thing.

We spend a lot of time with them, we care so much for them.

We lost four altogether so far here.

Would be just like burying one of your family members.

I can't do this!

Back at the center, it's lunchtime.

In the wild, these bears need to eat up to 90 pounds of food every day.

Everything from baby elks to spawning salmon, berries and plants.

You guys ready to eat?

And here the bears enjoy a daily diet of meat, grains, breads, fruit and veg, with the occasional marshmallow treat.

These bears once in a while, they're always looking for food, they really don't want for anything other than attention.

One of the other bears at the centre is Jenny.

When the bears are little and they're with their mother, after they drink their milk, they'll suckle on her for a time and they, they make this little noise that you hear.

She just never grew up, she still does this.

She looks at me as if I'm her mother.

When she gets to the pinky, she likes to just bite down on that pinky.

I love being around her and I'm happy that she feels that way about me still after all these years.

Oh peanuts? Alright, some peanuts.

It's all a wonderful thing to watch them grow up and... and to have them from very little and, and to make an impression on them.

They're like your children, that's how much you love them.

And they give a lot back to you too, you know they, they love you just as much.

Sometimes you take it for granted, but it is a special relationship.

Yeah, the bears are everything to me.

I, I would do anything for them.

I spend all day with them every day.

This is our life and we're one big bear family!