The sister of Bart the Bear II was a star herself, and a force for conservation.
Our Vital Ground family lost a beloved member earlier this spring. Honey Bump the Bear, one of our grizzly ambassadors who was orphaned as a cub and raised by co-founders Doug and Lynne Seus, passed away at the age of 26 at home in Utah.
Honey Bump and her brother, Bart the Bear II (2000-2021), were born in Alaska but orphaned as tiny cubs. Unable to survive on their own in the wild, they would become powerful ambassadors for the conservation of wild grizzlies and their habitat. While Honey Bump quickly became an acting star with her roles in Dr. Doolittle 2 and the Growing Up Grizzly series, her greatest impact would be felt in her role of connecting people to Vital Ground and the cause of grizzly habitat protection.
In memory of a cherished family member and conservation ambassador, Lynne Seus wrote the following tribute:
On a high slope of mountain north of Glenallen, Alaska, grizzly cubs longed for a mother that would never return. When the carcass of the lactating mother was spotted in the bed of a pickup truck, a call went out to the Alaska Fish and Game Department. The dedicated officers followed the tire tracks and the trail of blood back to the den. A helicopter and a rescue net would bring the cubs to the government office. It was then that we received a phone call that would continue the course of our lives for the next quarter century.
We named the male cub Bart the Bear II, as a namesake of our beloved giant, Bart the Bear. The female would become Honey Bump, for her love of honey and because she ran around our home bumping into everything.
The course of the wild-born cubs could not have been imagined … they would see movie sets in New Zealand, Canada, and even downtown Boston, appearing with some of the most famous faces in Hollywood. But the lives of our bears had to matter for something more than movies, something much more.
Bart II and Honey Bump were ambassadors for Vital Ground, protecting all that is wild and free. Where the Grizzly can walk, the Earth is healthy and whole.
Thank you, Honey Bump. Run free.