AN amazing tale which tells of how a sporting couple adopted a grizzly bear who later became Scotland’s Personality of the Year has been published.
Showjumping champion Maggie Robin and her husband, wrestler Andy, bought the cub who was less than a year old which would become more famous than them.

Their story, written by Maggie, tells of how they built a specially adapted den for their new arrival, who they named Hercules, and how they got to know one another.

Subtitled A Gentle Giant in the Family, we find out about the significant moments in the youngster’s life such as when the couple were confident enough to take his muzzle off.

Following a public debut in Scotland which led to numerous appearances across the UK, they toured the US after sailing across the Atlantic with the bear in a container built for comfort.

Crew members on the boat took Hercules to their heart and, after finding out he had a fondness for ice cream, the liner’s stock of that particular product dropped drastically — much to the bewilderment of the purser, but to the delight of the 9ft VIP passenger.

Travelling Stateside on a bear-friendly tour bus, Hercules became a superstar.

He even took a bow before the fans of an American football team who had a bear as their mascot, but had never had a live one on the playing field.

As well as the triumphs and stardom, the emotional side of the couple’s relationship with Hercules is laid bare, none more so than the story of how he went missing for almost a month in the Outer Hebrides.

Many people had given him up for dead, but Andy had a feeling he was out there and so it proved as he was found and brought back to his worried ‘parents’, watched by the world’s media.

People had taken him to their hearts and they shared the pain that he went through when he had a spinal injury, which a vet thought wound finish him off, until his final demise in 2000.

Hercules The Bear, by John Blake Publishing, has been released in hardback at £12.99.

it is a fascinating story of an unusual adoption which changed the lives of so many people, two in particular.