The bear was named "Charlie" (actually "Kalle," the Finnish equivalent), and his relaxed tolerance of the researchers' presence soon made him their chief study subject. Charlie soon established himself as the alpha male of all the local bears. He was not necessarily the biggest, but he was strong, smart and tough, and the other males soon learned not to show him any disrespect or rudeness. Charlie established the research camp as his personal turf, and the other bears stayed out. Charlie could often be seen peering into the windows of the researchers' cabin to see what the human funnies were up to, and I have seen a photo of Charlie doing this. The other polar bears seemed to recognise the special relationship that existed between Charlie and the researchers, they showed more respect and kept out of the researchers' way, but they didn't become any friendlier.
One day, an absolutely huge male came striding into camp, and the researchers expected a big fight between him and Charlie. They cautiously went around the station, but were very surprised to see Charlie and the stranger lying together on the ground cuddled up together. They were sharing some blubber together and licking each other's faces and nibbling each others' necks. The two bears were absolutely devoted bosom buddies; so much so that the researchers wondered if they might be brothers. Polar bears are seriously into male bonding, to the point that they sometimes seem a bit gay. Like other close polar bear buddies, they would play together for hours then sleep cuddled up together, licking the pads on each others' feet and ever so delicately nibbling the fearsome-looking claws. The researchers decided to call the newcomer "Big Andy".
