Doug Seus

Pennsylvania native, Doug Seus, along with his wife, Lynne, who hails from Nebraska, obtained their first captive Rocky Mountain wolf in 1971 and subsequently launched the animal training business for the entertainment industry. Between educational programs for universities and commercials shoots for television, Doug and Lynne expanded collectible North American wildlife including cougars, bobcats, coyotes, foxes, raccoon, owls and eagles. However in 1977, they bought a bear from a zoo in Peoria, Illinois. Through their cinematic work with Bart the Bear as well as their humane training methods, the Seuses spawn a legion of followers and are considered the primary animal trainers in the entertainment business. With Bart as ambassador, the Seuses launched Vital Ground in 1990 through the purchase of two hundred and forty acres of prime grizzly bear habitat adjoining protected turf in The Nature Conservancy's Pine Butte Swamp Preserve on the eastern front of Montana's Rocky Mountains. The joy of working with bears and other North American animals does not come from teaching tricks or or viewing them on screen. It is generally about building a relationship with them.