Corporal Wojtek - The Beer Drinking, Cigarette Eating Syrian Brown Bear

April 8, 1942: He was discovered as an orphaned cub in the Zagros mountains near Hamedan, Iran, by Polish soldiers of the 22nd Artillery Supply Company, Anders' Army. The bear was traded from an Iranian boy for food.



Wojtek initially had problems swallowing and was fed condensed milk from an old vodka bottle. He was subsequently given fruit, marmalade, honey, and syrup.

Wojtek started to copy the other soldiers, drinking beer, smoking, and even marching alongside them on his hind legs. Wojtek had his own caregiver, assigned to look after him. The cub grew up while on campaign and was estimated to be 500 pounds by the time of the Battle of Monte Cassino.

While he did enjoy smoking, he preferred to eat the lit cigarettes.

Wojtek discovered a spy in the showers of a Polish army camp while stationed in Palestine. The spy, who had broken into the camp to steal equipment or intelligence, was so terrified by the sight of the bear that he began screaming, leading to his immediate capture by the soldiers. In exchange for this "patrol duty," Wojtek was famously rewarded with a bottle of beer.



On April 14, 1944 in Alexandria, Egypt the Polish army officially enlisted Wojtek as a Private into the 22nd Artillery Supply Company.. By giving him a rank, serial number, and paybook, they bypassed British transport regulations that prohibited animals on board a ship that was bound for Italy.

Wojtek boarding the ship


As an enlisted soldier he lived with the other men in tents or in a special wooden crate, which was transported by truck. The men loved having him in the tents on cold nights.

Wrestling with his fellow comrades was said to be one of his favorite activities.

During the Battle of Monte Cassino, Wojtek helped his unit convey ammunition by carrying 100 pound crates of 25 pound artillery shells, never dropping any of them. The bear mimicked the soldiers: when he saw the men lifting crates, he copied them. Wojtek carried boxes that normally required four men, which he would stack onto a truck or other ammunition boxes.

After the Polish victory, Wojtek became a celebrity among visiting Allied generals and statesmen. This service also earned him promotion to the rank of Corporal. In recognition of Wojtek's popularity, a depiction of a bear carrying an artillery shell was adopted as the official insignia of the 22nd Company.



Ain't nobody stealing this truck


Post-War Life

After the end of World War II in 1945, Wojtek was transported to Berwickshire, Scotland, with the rest of the 22nd Company through the Polish Resettlement Corps. They were stationed at Winfield Airfield on Sunwick Farm, near the village of Hutton, Scottish Borders. Wojtek soon became popular among local civilians and the press, and the Polish-Scottish Association made him an honorary member.

Wojtek in Britain


Following demobilisation on 15 November 1947, Wojtek was given to Edinburgh Zoo, where he spent the rest of his life, often visited by journalists and former Polish soldiers, some of whom tossed cigarettes for him to eat, as he did during his time in the army. He still happily responded to being spoken to in Polish, recognizing many of his former unit.

Some of his former comrades would sneak into his enclosure to wrestle with him, to the dismay of the zookeepers.

Wojtek died 2 December 1963, aged 21 of natural causes, weighing nearly 1,100 pounds