Movie star bear dies after stepping on tiny piece of metal in Alberta park
Saturday, August 16th, 2008
Fare thee well, Ali Oop; we hardly knew ye.
Ali Oop, a giant male kodiak bear known for his part in several popular Hollywood movies, died last month at the (human) age of 27. The old bear, who’d had a large piece of metal removed from his foot, couldn’t naturally fight off inevitable infection and eventually died of the wound.
Oop had been living at the Alberta wildlife park for several years and was raised by trainer Ruth Labarge, who has been in mourning ever since.
Oop appeared in several movies and commercials, including Dr. DoLittle 2, Wild America and Trueheart. After ‘retiring’ from the business in 2004 Oop returned to Alberta, and was popular for his general kindness towards visitors by ‘kissing’ (licking) them.