OTISVILLE, N.Y. — Bear hugs are nothing. Jim Kowalczik hugs bears.

Kowalczik lies on the ground as his 1,500-pound bear buddy, Jimbo, rests a heavy paw on his waist. He feeds Jimbo a marshmallow from his mouth and laughs as a big bear tongue slobbers on his ear.

If that sounds suicidal, consider that Kowalczik and his wife, Susan, have cared for Jimbo for almost 23 years, since the Kodiak bear first came to the couple’s upstate New York haven for injured or unwanted animals as a bottle-feeding cub.

“He’ll play with you all day if you have the time,” Kowalczik says after a recent horseplay session, adding that it’s fortunate the bear doesn’t throw his weight around casually. “If he lays on you, you’ve got a problem.”

Jimbo is among the 11 bears living at the couple’s nonprofit Orphaned Wildlife Center 60 miles northwest of New York City. One of them, a black bear named Frankie, was born in the wild and found his way here in 2012 after being hit by a car.