What do you do when a 1,500-pound Kodiak bear has a tough day?

You give him a hug, of course.

Ok, so you and I don’t (seriously, don’t try that at home, just run), but the folks at Orphaned Wildlife Center do. It’s still not 100% safe, but it’s pretty darn close.

The Orphaned Wildlife Center (OWC) is in southern New York state (but still “upstate” to anyone living in the city) and was founded by Susan and Jim Kowalczik.

The Kowalcziks have been licensed wildlife rehabilitators since 2006.

While their operation started small, their first bear in need appeared in 2012. It’s a sad story of a juvenile black bear that had been hit by a car. For months, the bear was paralyzed and had been brought to them in a coma. They named him Frankie and oversaw his dramatic recovery – especially Jim, who bonded with him.

The bear went through quite a bit of trama, but eventually, he was able to move again and at least keep up with the lady bears.

Now, years later, the couple and their assistants are taking care of 11 wild bears – all orphaned and in desperate need of assistance. They would die on their own and the Kowalczik’s primary goal is to rehabilitate them until they’re ready to be released back into the wild.

The animals don’t learn tricks and they aren’t around for entertainment. The center runs an educational program, but only to benefit their orphaned wildlife and never to exploit their animals.

But this is really the story of Jimbo. He was one of their former residents who was rescued from an animal park after an injury to his back leg. At 23 years old, the injury was permanent.

According to their website:

“Jimbo was born in captivity at the animal park and was never a “wild bear”. That park has since closed. Since he was born in captivity to a mother also born in captivity he would have no skills taught to him to survive in the wild. (Plus his leg injury would have made it even worse for him.)”

So it’s not so surprising that not every day was a good day for Jimbo.

Nevertheless, a video that the Center posted of the 1400-pound Kodiak bear in February of 2018 has earned nearly 18 million views!

From what little we know, Jimbo was simply down in the dumps. We all have crappy days.

And while he hadn’t had much affection in the past, he had grown close to Jim Kowalczik. The video just shows the two pals sitting side by side, having a guy chat.

After a big bear hug – no pun intended! – Jim sits down next to the sad bear and commiserates with him for a while. We don’t know if the bear was in pain or had been rejected in some way – we just know he looks pretty bummed and that he was looking to his human friend to cheer him up.

Jim was all too happy to do it, going in for the hug with a bear that weighed at least 7 times as much as he did.

As the two sit next to one another, Jim gives Jimbo a snack and the enormous bear eats gently from his hand. (Jimbo grew up with humans and would never be wild – the couple does not encourage their other bears to be reliant on humans).

And that’s really all there is to it. A tender moment between two dudes – but that’s really all it takes to warm our hearts.

Sadly, Jimbo passed away just a couple of months later in April of 2018. But we can only hope that the care and affection the Kowalcziks gave him in his final months gave him back some of the dignity that had been stripped of him as an entertainment animal.

If you’d like to donate to the Orphaned Wildlife Center, you can click here and be sure to keep up with them on Instagram and Facebook.

But do be sure to scroll down to see the endearing (and a bit heartbreaking) video.

Please SHARE this with your friends and family.

Source: Orphaned Wildlife Center via YouTube, @orphanedwildlife via Instagram, OrphanedWildlife.org