Wojtek the Soldier Bear was released from the prison camps of Siberia only to be picked up in Iran by Allied forces. A Polish army looked after him, and he helped out with the war effort, moving ammunition during the Battle of Monte Cassino in Italy.

Following the battle, he was promoted to the rank of a corporal. And after the Allies won World War II, he moved to Britain and lived in the Edinburgh Zoo until his death in 1963.