‘The Bear is Loose’: Running Wild Shows Obama Roughing It in Alaska with Bear Grylls

Remember how President Obama took a trip to Alaska several months ago to push climate change policies by going on a nature hike? NBC offered a pretty good reminder for those who forgot last night, when they premiered their latest episode of Running Wild and documented the president’s journey with British adventurer, Bear Grylls.

“One of the main purposes of our trip here was to highlight the effects of climate change and what’s happening to the planet,” Obama told Grylls. “People need to feel it and see it.”

While the president never had to drink his own urine (as Grylls has been known to do) part of the episode showed Obama noting that the unrestrained adventure would be a security challenge for the the Secret Service. Obama explained how “the bear is loose” is a typically code phrase whenever he goes off alone to do something unexpected, “so to be with Bear in the woods, it doesn’t get any better than that.”

While the episode attempted to show Obama and Grylls alone with the camera men, the survivalist told the NY Times that there was a squad of at least 50 people watching over the adventure. Nonetheless, the president was allowed to take a few risks, like when he ate salmon with Grylls that was leftover from the previous hunt of an actual bear.

The rest of the episode featured exactly what you’d expect, from commentary about global warming, to shots of the Alaskan glaciers, to the occasional quip about bear attacks from the president.

You can watch the full episode in the video above, via NBC.

[h/t Daily Beast]
[Image via Instagram]

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