The Bear Necessities? Voytek the Bear. Smoked, drank, fought as a soldier.

He would drink, he would smoke, he would fight and carry more artillery than any one human soldier could. Introducing, Voytek the Bear. This European brown bear was found in the Middle East by the Polish army in 1943 as a cub. The soldiers who found him took an instant liking to Voytek and adopted him. As Voytek grew larger and larger, the soldiers trained him to carry heavy artillery mortar rounds.

Over time the soldiers became very attached to Voytek, literally considering him one of their own, drinking and smoking with him as if he were just another solider. In fact, Voytek fit in so well with this group of soldiers, that when it came time for the Polish forces to deploy to Europe, they literally enlisted the bear as a soldier in the army, complete with name, rank and serial number. He even took part in the Italian campaign, including one the bloodiest battles to take place in western Europe, the four month long Battle of Monte Cassino in Italy. While over 250,000 soldiers lost their lives in this battle, Voytek survived. After the war, Voytek was brought by the soldiers to Scotland and as then situated in the Edingburgh Zoo, where he eventually died in 1963. It’s reported that some of the soldiers would continue to visit Voytek in the zoom hopping the fences to share a smoke and a beer with their old friend.

It’s sad to me that such a creature, who had fought in human battles, stood along side men as a compatriot of men, putting his life on the line, ended up as a creature behind bars in a zoo. Perhaps it was the best possible choice at the time, since he obviously would not have been fit to roam wild after being so acclimated to humans and the way we live, but a part of me wishes one of the soldiers could have taken Voytekhome, and let him live out his life on some rural farmland, free of bars.

This amazing tale is due to be told in depth as a book about Voytek is scheduled for release next month. I vote for Wes Anderson to make the movie!