Channel 4 Doc Spotlights Wild Animals as Pets

Channel 4 has commissioned Bear About the House: Living with My Super-sized Pet, a new documentary from Barcroft Productions that explores people who keep dangerous wild animals as pets.

Director Ross Haley examines why people make a wild beast part of their family in the hour-long documentary. The doc follows Yuri and Svetlana, who own a stone bear; Vicki and her saltwater crocodile; and Mike and Valerie, who have a one-ton buffalo named Cody. Bear About the House: Living with My Super-sized Pet also features Larry from New York, who has spent 30 years working with dangerous creatures, including a tiger that he sent to live with Michael Jackson.

Channel 4’s factual entertainment commissioning executive, Lucy Leveugle, said, “Barcroft have negotiated great access and teamed with Ross Haley, a very talented director. They have brought a warm touch to the colorful world of super-sized pets and just who chooses to own them.”

Peter Wyles, executive producer for Barcroft, remarked, “When Ross told me that he couldn’t film Stepan the bear for five months because Stepan was hibernating, we all knew this was going to be an unusual film! It’s a unique world and Ross did a great job gaining the trust of the owners and filming some very funny and revealing moments as he traveled the world to spend time with people who have wild animals in their homes.”