Extraordinary story of Hercules the grizzly bear has an important lesson about animals

Born in Highland Wildlife Park in 1975, he faced being put down because it had too many bears until he was bought by wrestler Andy Robin and his wife Maggie, living with the couple for the rest of his life. He became a film star, appearing in a James Bond movie, and counted Margaret Thatcher, Ronald Reagan and the late Queen Elizabeth among his fans.

This particular grizzly liked the occasional beer – he was reportedly a “happy drunk” – and ice cream. He was so used to cooked food that when he went missing for nearly a month while filming an advert for Kleenex on Benbecula, he lost 127kg (20 stone) in weight rather than kill a sheep. It led to Kleenex’s ‘Big Softy’ campaign.

Now his story is to be told in a new play, called Hercules the Bear, with life-like puppets playing the starring role. Hercules, who died in 2000, is a reminder of a simple but important fact: animals are individuals just like us.