Bart, the 1,500-pound star of The
Bear and most recently The Edge
(co-starring Anthony Hopkins), missed out on the Academy Awards a
couple of weeks ago. But the 23-year-old actor and coastal Kodiak
grizzly will be appearing this month on the small screen as
spokesbear for Colorado State University’s Animal Cancer Center’s
new research facility. According to Bart’s trainer, Doug Seus, who
appears in fund-raising spots alongside the bear, Bart was
diagnosed with cancer in 1998 after Seus discovered a lump in the
animal’s wrist. The diagnosis was grim, but following surgery he
has made a full recovery, and, barring a recurrence of cancer, may
live to be 30. As a part of CSU’s Paws for a Cause campaign, Bart
joins “Stormin” Norman” Schwarzkopf and Colorado Gov. Bill Owens as
an advocate for the Animal Cancer Center, the world’s leading
treatment facility for pets. Ultimately, Colorado State University
hopes to build a 30,000-square-foot wing onto its existing teaching
hospital in Fort Collins. The total cost is expected to run $9
million.
In a pair of spots – destined for the
Animal Planet cable channel, which is run by Discovery, as well as
for ABC, NBC and CBS – Bart and Seus laze in the grass. “Bart may
be big and strong,” says Seus as Bart playfully attempts to bite
his head, “but he’s also a cancer survivor … Please help us
continue to save lives.”
Bart’s understudy, a
young grizzly named Tank, is six years old, about 8 feet tall and
more than 800 pounds. With Bart doing just fine, Tank will continue
to wait in the wings.
Donations to the Colorado
State University Animal Cancer Center can be sent to P.O. Box 1870,
Fort Collins, CO 80522-1870. For more information, call Linda,
toll-free 877/427-8838. The Web site is
www.cancercure.
Copyright
© 2000 HCN and Dan Oko
This article appeared in the print edition of the magazine with the headline Bart: Still a trooper.
Republish our articles for free, online or in print, under a Creative Commons license.
