Jeff Watson and his two enormous, furry sidekicks are in
high demand.
They’ve been everywhere together. On the set of The Tonight
Show. In commercials for Rice Krispies Treats and washing machines. On episodes
of Walker: Texas Ranger and, just recently, Impractical Jokers. And even on
their own Animal Planet special called “Project Grizzly.”
For the next three years, though, they’re setting up shop in
a new home: French Lick.
You won’t find brown bears in the wild in Indiana — at least
not since the late 1800s, and not within hundreds and hundreds of miles here
today. But that’s changed now that Jeff has brought his pair of
almost-7-year-old grizzly bears named Bob and Screech to southern Indiana in the newest animal encounter offered within the 1,100 acres at Wilstem, which is
less than a 10-minute drive from French Lick Resort.
“Encounter” is a relative term, because unlike the other
animal encounters offered at Wilstem where you can feed a giraffe, pet a
kangaroo or give an elephant a bath, you keep a safe distance from these bears
that weigh more than 700 pounds and consume about 50 pounds of food per day
(they bite through whole, raw sweet potatoes like potato chips).
Jeff speaks fluent bear, since he’s had the animals for 30
years. He just wanted to raise one initially, then decided to marry a hobby
with a profession. He lays out all the bear background and takes questions from
guests while interacting with Bob and Screech after they amble out of their den
and roam through their spacious grassy enclosure. He pats them on the snout,
tossing them oranges and hard-boiled eggs — you might even catch him giving them
high-fives.
He’s also sure guests understand that while the grizzlies
appear tame around him, there’s a reason for the pair of 8-foot perimeter
fences (one electrically charged) separating the bears from the guests. Needless
to say, you wouldn’t win a wrestling match with one of these guys. But you might
see them up on their hind legs, wrestling and pawing at each other — they are littermate
brothers, after all.
They might have more company in the future, too. Jeff has
more bears back home 60 miles north of here, and he indicated that in time,
they’ll come down to Wilstem as well. In the meantime, Bob and Screech are the
stars of this show that you won’t see anywhere else in this part of the
country. Jeff gives us a few more things to bear in mind about the grizzly experience:
Is there anywhere
else around here that offers this type of encounter?
“I don’t believe there’s any other place within quite a few
states that allows this type of experience. Many zoos have bears, but we’re
offering a large, expansive natural habitat. There are parks out West that (contain)
natural habitats. But for the Midwest, we hope to have an exclusive here.”
“We wanted to give people an experience here where they
could experience bears in a natural habitat — earth, grass, trees. We’re
allowing people to get close, but not too close. People want to touch these
bears, and that’s not going to happen here at Wilstem. We’re going to let you
get close, see them in their pool, roaming the hills and eating their grass,
wrestling with each other, interacting with me. Most North American zoos don’t
have keepers in with their apex carnivores, so that’s something unique that
we’re offering here. You can see scale that way — you can see the relationship,
the bond that we have.”
What’s interesting to
watch or notice about the bears for guests when they visit?
“Screech (named for the noise he made when he was a cub) has
a little more jovial personality. Bob’s the alpha; he’s the boss. Bob seems to
have somewhat of an ominous mind, so he’s always looking to sneak one over on
you. I watch myself a little more with Bob. I love ’em both — Bob’s like that
special child you just have to give a little more attention to, and sleep with
one eye open.” (laughs)
Anything else new
coming in the future with the bear encounter?
“This is a constantly evolving enclosure (and the) habitat
is constantly evolving. We’re looking at putting more benches and more
platforms for people to photograph from and film from, and anything that we can
add to it that can enhance the experience is what we’re going to do. We just
want to keep adding to it.”
Interested in booking
an encounter with the grizzly bears during your visit to French Lick Resort?
For more details, visit wilstem.com or
call (812) 936-4484 to inquire about availability.
Wilstem features dozens of more exotic animals, including kangaroos that you can get up close with in the "Roos and Crew" encounter.