Meet the couple who share their home with a 7-foot tall tame BEAR

Meet the couple who share their home with a 7-foot tall tame BEAR 

The idea of sitting down for dinner with a 300lb bear is enough to put most people off their food.

But for one family from Russia this wild idea is actually a way of life that extends far beyond sharing the odd meal at the dinner table.

On the surface Svetlana and Yuriy Panteleenko appear like any other ordinary couple, but for their 23-year-old bear named Stepan.

Standing at more than seven foot, the large mammal is so domesticated the family often sit down together in the evenings to watch television.

And the bear has even been known to help out around the house - or at least in the garden - by watering the plants.

While Stepan gets through more than a bowl of porridge a day his favourite dish is a can of condensed milk thanks to a sweet tooth.





He also stocks up on a hefty 25kg of fish, vegetables and eggs - meaning dinner time at the Panteleenko's is never a breeze.

But fortunately for Stepan, he's also a football fanatic so works off the gut-busting amount of food his parents serve him every day.

Svetlana and Yuriy adopted Stepan when he was aged just three months.





The couple say that because they have known the bear so long his temperament is extremely gentle and he can often be found cuddling up to them on the sofa.

Svetlana said: 'Stepan likes nothing more than to cuddle up with us on the sofa at night while we're watching television.

'When we adopted him, he was only three-months-old and had been found by hunters in the forest having lost his mother. He was in a very bad condition.

'He absolutely loves people and is a really sociable bear - despite what people might think, he is not aggressive at all. We have never been bitten by Stepan.

'He's got so many talents and loves a picnic. It's a wonder he doesn't eat us out of house and home.'

Cincinnati Zoo gorilla Harambe killed to protect boy who fell into enclo...

Cincinnati Zoo gorilla Harambe killed to protect boy who fell into enclosure 

Cincinnati Zoo gorilla Harambe killed to protect boy who fell into enclosure

A zoo shot and killed a 17-year-old gorilla that grabbed and dragged a four-year-old boy who fell into the its enclosure on Saturday afternoon.
Authorities said the boy, who fell 10 to 12 feet, is expected to recover after being picked up out of the moat and dragged by the 400-pound male, lowland gorilla named Harambe.
The boy was in the moat for about 10 minutes and was in between the gorilla's legs when the gorilla was shot, according to WLWT.
While zoo officials are still investigating, they believe the boy crawled through a railing barrier, and then fell into the moat.

Zoo officials said at the time boy fell in the moat, three gorillas were in the enclosure but the two female gorillas were called out immediately.
However, a third gorilla, Harambe, remained in the yard with the child.
Video footage emerged on Saturday revealing some of the chilling moments of the time the boy was inside the moat, as a panicked crowd looking on can be heard screaming as the ordeal unfolded.
During the chaotic scenes, people can be heard shouting 'No, no!' and for someone to call 911.
At one point a woman appearing to be the child's mother yells down, 'mommy's right here,' 'mommy loves you,' and then says 'Isaiah be calm,' as the boy can be heard crying.
The graphic portions of the ordeal which apparently showed the gorilla dragging the boy through the water, were removed from the footage, according to by WLWT.
The child was taken to Cincinnati Children's Hospital Medical Center with serious injuries following the incident, which was reported around 4pm.
The boy was alert when he was taken to hospital, according to officials.


Hospital officials said they could not release any information on the child, whose name has not been released.
Director Thane Maynard said the zoo's dangerous animal response team, which practices for such incidents, decided the boy was in 'a life-threatening situation' and that they needed to put down the gorilla.
'They made a tough choice and they made the right choice because they saved that little boy's life,' Maynard said.
'It could have been very bad.'
Maynard said the gorilla did not appear to be attacking the child, but he said it was 'an extremely strong' animal in an agitated situation.
The Cincinnati fire department incident report stated that the gorilla was 'violently dragging and throwing the child,' according to WLWT.
Maynard explained that tranquilizing the gorilla would not have knocked it out immediately, leaving the boy in danger.

He also noted it was the first time that the team had killed a zoo animal in such an emergency situation, and he called it 'a very sad day' at the zoo.
Harambe came to Cincinnati in 2015 from the Gladys Porter Zoo in Brownsville, Texas. According to the zoo's website, it houses 11 gorillas.
The area around the gorilla exhibit was closed off on Saturday afternoon as zoo visitors reported hearing screaming.
The zoo is to be open as usual on Sunday but Gorilla World will be closed until further notice.
In March, two curious polar bears at the zoo wandered into a behind-the-scenes service hallway through an open den door, but never left a secondary containment area.
The zoo said the 17-year-old female Berit and the 26-year-old male Little One, entered an 'inappropriate' area but remained contained and were never loose or a threat to the public.
During that incident, zoo officials said staff followed protocols and safely returned the bears to their main holding area within two hours.

11ft Python sinks its fangs into man's penis as he sits on the toilet

11ft Python bites man's ORGAN while he sits on the toilet after it slithered up sewer pipes

A man in Thailand suffered huge blood loss after a python sank its fangs into his penis while he was sitting on the toilet.

Atthaporn Boonmakchuay tried desperately to break free after the huge snake attacked in the bathroom of his home in Chachoengsao, east of the capital Bangkok.

The 38-year-old reportedly reached down with his hand after feeling a sharp bite - only to discover the serpent's jaws clamped around the tip of his penis.

Atthaporn screamed out for his wife as he thrashed around trying to dislodge the 11ft python.

Moments before collapsing, he managed to tie rope around the snake's head and tie it to the bathroom door.

But he was rushed to hospital after suffering horrific blood loss in the ordeal. 

Footage shows emergency crews trying to ease the python out of pipes under the toilet and using hammers to smash it free.