Hercules: the grizzly bear who became family
Lives Less Ordinary
BBC
4.7 • 885 Ratings
🗓️ 9 March 2026
⏱️ 41 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
Maggie Robin raised a bear cub who grew into an extraordinary companion.
When Maggie Robin and her wrestler husband Andy brought home a bear cub in 1970s Scotland, their friends thought they were mad. But the couple raised him as one of the family. Named Hercules, the tiny cub grew into a towering but gentle bear who slept by the fire, played in the garden and travelled everywhere with them. Attitudes towards keeping wild animals have changed since then, but at the time, Hercules was something of a celebrity and even appeared on film, on chat shows across the world, and met the then Prime Minister. To Maggie though, ‘Herc’ was simply family. Then one day, while filming in the Highlands, Hercules slipped his leash and vanished into the wild, sparking a nationwide search.
Archive clips came from Hercules The Bear, A Love Story courtesy of Friel Kean Films.
Presenter: Mobeen Azhar Producer: Edgar Maddicott
Lives Less Ordinary is a podcast from the BBC World Service that brings you the most incredible true stories from around the world. Each episode a guest shares their most dramatic, moving, personal story. Listen for unbelievable twists, mysteries uncovered, and inspiring journeys - spanning the entire human experience. Step into someone else’s life and expect the unexpected. Got a story to tell? Send an email to liveslessordinary@bbc.co.uk or message us via WhatsApp: 0044 330 678 2784 You can read our privacy notice here: https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/articles/5YD3hBqmw26B8WMHt6GkQxG/lives-less-ordinary-privacy-notice
Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | BBC Sounds, Music, Radio Podcasts. |
| 0:05.6 | Hello, I've just nipped in before your BBC podcast starts to tell you all about |
| 0:09.4 | You're Dead to Me. We're the comedy podcast that takes history seriously. Also from the BBC |
| 0:13.9 | and presented by me, Greg Jenner. I should have told you that at the beginning. Sorry. |
| 0:17.9 | Anyway, like many other BBC podcasts, such as Desert Island Discs, Evil Genius, or In Our Time, your dead to me is available first on BBC Sounds, |
| 0:26.3 | a whole month earlier than anywhere else, in fact. So if you can't wait another day to hear the very |
| 0:31.6 | latest in history and loads of other good stuff, then listen first on BBC Sounds. |
| 0:39.7 | When things are really special and work out well, it's like the stars have aligned. |
| 0:44.8 | Come on, baby. |
| 0:46.5 | I can remember the first time Andy suggested to me, Maggie, what would you think if I said I wanted to get a beer cub? |
| 0:56.0 | As you can see, he's a born wrestler. We've got a fella. |
| 0:59.1 | Never imagining that we would end up with such a life. |
| 1:04.4 | Maggie and my wife myself, it's just like a baby to us. |
| 1:07.7 | That grew into the most magical relationship. |
| 1:15.6 | Familiar love involving an adopted grizzly. |
| 1:19.7 | Maggie Robin shared her home in rural Scotland with an eight-foot half-ton bear. |
| 1:25.4 | His name was Hercules, or Herc, for short. |
| 1:29.2 | Give me a kiss. A wee kiss. Give me a kiss. Good boy, Hercules. |
| 1:33.6 | Completing the set was her husband, Andy. Their life together was like a fairy tale, |
| 1:38.8 | and they shared it with the world. |
| 1:42.0 | I'm Mabinazar, and from the BBC World Service, this is lives less ordinary. |
| 1:49.3 | When he was down the high street, the kids would bring him, can we go and get him an ice cream? |
... |
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