It’s Sweet Home Alabama For Bears On Southern ‘Grizzly Ranch’

Alabama might be the last place you’d expect to find grizzly bears, but there are several of them thriving there on the Grizzly Ranch Bear Rescue. 

Isaac Rempe founded the nonprofit wildlife and exotic animal rescue ranch with his wife Angela. The operation started in Florida before moving to a 40-acre plot in Alabama in 2017.

Their 14-year-old daughter and 11-year-old son also spend their days tending to the animals. 

As Rempe sees it, he was put on earth to help grizzlies and their cousins, Alaskan coastal brown bears. He hopes to help others understand and appreciate the massive bears.

“Well before I ever worked directly with brown bears, they were in my dreams,” Rempe told Cowboy State Daily. 

Grizzlies Are An Animal Like No Other

Rempe, 41, grew up with zookeeper parents in Florida and started working directly with numerous exotic species when he was 13. 

“My life changed drastically when I started working with animals,” he said. “I was heading down a wrong path and my parents saw that. But that changed when they started me working with the animals.”

He’s worked with just about every type of beast there is, from rhinos and camels to monkeys and black bears. 

But no creature has captivated him like grizzlies and brown bears. 

Most people grossly underestimate just how emotional and intelligent grizzlies are, he said.

He recalled his first close encounter with a brown bear in captivity, and said he will never forget locking eyes with the animal and feeling “that resonance, that emotion.” 

Bear biologists previously told Cowboy State Daily that Wyoming grizzlies are, indeed, smarter than the average bear. 

Rempe can vouch for that. 

“Brown bears are right up there on the level of primates as far as intelligence and problem-solving skills,” he said. 

Emotional Connection With Grizzly 399

So far, all the bears that the Grizzy Ranch has taken in were born and raised in captivity. 

None of them came from Wyoming, but Rempe said he’d love a chance to take in Wyoming grizzlies, such as orphaned cubs. 

The ranch also hosts some wolves, and Rempe said he’d be happy to take orphaned Wyoming wolf pups as well. 

He visited Wyoming about 15 years ago and was enthralled by the grizzlies in Yellowstone and Grand Teton national parks. 

Like many around the world, he felt a connection with Wyoming’s most famous bear, Grizzly 399. 

When Grizzly 399 was struck and killed by a vehicle south of Jackson in October 2024, it came as devastating news, he said. 

“It’s heartbreaking,” Rempe said. “It’s terrible. Her story is the same story we see across the board. It’s our (humans’) fault when these animals can’t live and carry on.”

Don’t ‘Walk The Paths That I Walk’

Grizzly and brown bear cubs interact directly with the whole family and the ranch staff. But only Rempe has direct contact with adult bears. 

He understands that some people might regard it as foolish to walk right up to a grizzly, much less chill out and cuddle with it. 

Rempe said he feels comfortable doing so only because of his years of experience and connection with the bears.

“I would never advise anybody to do what I do,” he said. “I don’t advise other people to walk the paths that I walk.”

Rempe has worked with his share of large, dangerous animals, including huge predatory cats. 

But grizzlies require another level of awareness because they’re so intelligent and difficult to read, he said. 

“Bears aren’t going to tell you when they’re in a bad mood,” he said. “With the big cats and these other animals, there are signals that something’s going to go wrong, but not with bears.”

Getting Kids’ Faces Out Of Their Phones

The ranch offers tours by appointment. Visitors are allowed to get up close to more docile animals, such as camels, but are kept a safe distance away from bears. 

Rempe said that for him and his family, the tours are about much more than just showing people cool animals. His goal is to educate people about the importance of all creatures and to reconnect them with the natural world. 

“The balance and respect (for nature) has gone away,” he said, adding that bears represent the part of nature that people fear.

“That best path to taking that fear away is to educate,” Rempe said. 

He’s particularly passionate about getting that message out to youngsters. 

“I’m trying to get the phones out from in front of these kids’ faces,” he said. “To get them outside and in front of these animals. In front of the real world — the smell and the visceral experience of these animals.”

‘The Way To A Bear’s Heart Is Through It’s Stomach’

If any orphaned grizzly cubs from Wyoming ever end up at the Grizzly Ranch, they’ll live their best lives, Rempe said. 

The ranch takes in some resident wildlife species, such as skunks and raccoons. The goal with those animals is to rehabilitate them and return them to the wild. 

But the bears that end up on the Grizzly Ranch are there for life. 

So far, the oldest bear there is 28, although in captivity, brown bears can live into their 50s, Rempe said. 

In the wild, grizzlies hibernate during the winter. 

Rempe said that’s because of a “lack of resources” for the bears during the winter months in places like Wyoming. 

Alabama can get cold in the winter, and there’s even snow at times, he said. With food always available, however, the grizzlies and brown bears on the ranch don’t hibernate. 

“Our bears are fat and happy,” he said. “The way to a bear’s heart is through its stomach.”

Mark Heinz can be reached at mark@cowboystatedaily.com.