The Bears of the Grizzly & Wolf Discovery Center

Sam and illie, twin brother and sister were placed in captivity as young cubs after their mother disappeared in Alaska. These two bears wandered in to a fishing village where people (young and old) began hand-feeding them, becoming quite the attraction and a dangerous situation. Without a mother to care for them and becoming habituated to human food, these bears had to be placed in captivity and arrived at the Center in 1996. Being from the coastline of Alaska, these two bears are very large, with Sam weighing approximately 1050 pounds and his sister illie close to 800 pounds. Sam was named after the fishing village of King Salmon and illie after Mount iliamna, both areas are near their birthplace.