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Rock-a-Bye ... Bear? Caretaker and Brown Bear Reunite to Play 'Rocking' Game Again

Sonya, a 15-year-old Syrian brown bear who lives at the Orphaned Wildlife Center in Otisville, New York, was reunited with an old friend recently, as a former sanctuary caretaker paid her a visit.

As this footage shows, the two old friends picked up where they left off, with Kerry Clair, who helps manage the nonprofit center, telling Storyful that Johnathan, the man featured in this YouTube footage from October 28, was one of Sonya’s caretakers when she was a cub.

“He used to play games with her. He has not seen her in many years and recently came for a visit. We all wondered if she would remember him. She did,” said Clair. “The moment she heard his voice, her head shot up and she ran to the gate and started to rub her head against him.”

She added that Sonya “also immediately tried to initiate a game they used to play when she was a cub where she would hold her paws out and he would rock her back and forth.” The beginnings of the game can be seen around three minutes into the heartwarming reunion video.

The orphaned bear, who cannot be released into the wild, is being provided with “lifetime care” at the 109-acre sanctuary, which has officially been up and running since 2015, with Clair working alongside Jim and Susan Kowalczik to help care for the animals so they can either be returned to the wild or cared for full-time, as with Sonya. Credit: Kerry Clair via Storyful