Tame bear

{{Short description|Wild bear raised for entertainment}} {{Redirect|Dancing bear|the record label|Dancing Bear}} [[File:The dancing bear by William Frederick Witherington.jpg|thumb|upright=1.3|''The dancing bear'' by William Frederick Witherington, England, 1822]] A '''tame bear''', often called a '''dancing bear''', is a wild bear captured when young or born and bred in captivity. These bears have been used to entertain people in streets or taverns. Dancing bears were commonplace throughout Europe and Asia from the Middle Ages to the 19th century, and can still be found in the 21st century in some countries. In these countries, organizations and animal rights activists have sought to eliminate the practice, citing the mistreatment and abuse used to train the bears.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Dancing bears |url=http://www.bearconservation.org.uk/dancing-bears/ |access-date=2020-11-09 |work=Bear Conservation |language=en-GB}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |date=2017-10-30 |title=Traveling Bear Shows: Abuse and Neglect On Tour |url=https://www.peta.org/issues/animals-in-entertainment/traveling-bear-shows-shameful-spectacles/ |access-date=2020-11-09 |website=PETA |language=en-US}}</ref>

==Dancing bears== ===Training methods=== Because dancing bears need to stand on hind legs to perform tricks, various methods have been employed to execute this behavior. One method involves trainers constantly feeding the bear from above, which acclimates the bear to standing on its hind legs, usually in response to a trained signal from the bear handler.<ref name=Bieder106 /> Another tactic is considered inhumane today but is still practiced in some countries by semi-nomadic people living in extreme poverty.<ref name=":0">{{Cite web |last=Blogger |first=Guest |date=2021-11-09 |title=Do dancing bears still exist? |url=https://www.worldanimalprotection.org.uk/latest/blogs/dancing-bear/ |access-date=2025-01-10 |website=World Animal Protection |language=en-GB}}</ref> These handlers file down the bear's teeth and push a hot iron rod through the top of the bear's muzzle to create a permanent hole in the bear's nose and mouth. The handler then threads the hole with a knotted rope, so the bear can be pulled upright, inflicting pain on the bear as its motivation to stand.<ref name=Bieder106 /> To make the bear dance, the animal might be put on a hot plate while music is played to condition it to move its feet out of fear and anxiety any time it hears music.<ref name=Bieder106 /><ref name=":0" /> Bears might also be starved in an attempt to render them less aggressive.<ref name=Bieder106>{{cite book | last=Bieder | first=Robert E. | title=Bear | publisher=Reaktion Books | publication-place=London | date=2005-08-18 | isbn=1-86189-204-7 | pages=106–110}}</ref>

===History=== In ancient Rome, bears and monkeys were led to dance and perform tricks for the public.<ref>{{cite journal|author=Pelin Tünaydın|title=Pawing through the History of Bear Dancing in Europe|journal=Frühneuzeit-Info|url=http://www.bearconservation.org.uk/Pawing_through_the_History_of_Bear_Danci.pdf}}</ref> Following the fall of the Western Roman Empire, dancing bears continued to be commonplace throughout Europe and Asia.<ref name=":1">{{Cite web |title= |url=http://www.bearconservation.org.uk/dancing-bears/ |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240910064735/http://www.bearconservation.org.uk/dancing-bears/ |archive-date=2024-09-10 |access-date=2025-01-14 |website=www.bearconservation.org.uk |language=en |url-status=live }}</ref> In Russia and Siberia, cubs were for centuries captured for being used as dancing bears accompanying tavern musicians (''skomorokhi''), as depicted in the ''Travels'' of Adam Olearius.<ref>{{cite book |last=Findeizen |first=Nikolai |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=SZexDAAAQBAJ&pg=PT201 |title=History of Music in Russia from Antiquity to 1800, Vol. 1: From Antiquity to the Beginning of the Eighteenth Century |publisher=Indiana University Press |year=2008 |isbn=978-0-253-02637-8 |page=201}}</ref> By the fifteenth century, the practice began to dwindle in Western Europe and was officially banned in the UK in 1911.<ref name=":1" /><ref name=Bieder110>{{cite book | last=Bieder | first=Robert E. | title=Bear | publisher=Reaktion Books | publication-place=London | date=2005-08-18 | isbn=1-86189-204-7 | page=110}}</ref> Dancing bears continued to appear frequently in Eastern Europe and Asia until the late 20th century.<ref name=":1" />

In 2007, the presence of dancing bears at a circus in Spain prompted public outcry.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Neale (Columnist) |first=Adam |date=2007-10-16 |title=Dancing bears in Spain cause public outcry |url=https://www.theolivepress.es/spain-news/2007/10/16/dancing-bears-in-spain-cause-public-outcry/ |access-date=2025-12-05 |website=Olive Press News Spain |language=en-GB}}</ref> In the same year, in Bulgaria, the last dancing bears were rescued and brought to Bear Sanctuary Belitsa by the animal welfare organisation Four Paws, despite the practice having been illegal since 1998.<ref>{{Cite web |title=BEAR SANCTUARY Belitsa – 20 year anniversary and a new name. |url=https://www.four-paws.org/our-stories/press-releases/may-2022/bear-sanctuary-belitsa-20-year-anniversary-and-a-new-name |access-date=2025-12-05 |website=FOUR PAWS International - Animal Welfare Organisation |language=en}}</ref> In 2009, Four Paws rescued the last dancing bears of Serbia.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Đorđević |first=Nikola |date=2020-06-13 |title=Bears no longer dance in South Eastern Europe, but captivity and mistreatment are still an issue |url=https://emerging-europe.com/culture-travel-sport/bears-no-longer-dance-in-south-eastern-europe-but-captivity-and-mistreatment-are-still-an-issue/ |access-date=2025-12-05 |website=Emerging Europe |language=en-GB}}</ref>

Dancing bears were banned in India under the 1972 Wildlife Protection Act - but the practice continued illegally, primarily in Qalandar communities, who have performed with dancing bears since the late Vedic era.<ref>{{Cite news |date=2007-12-17 |title=The Dancing Bears of India: Moving Toward Freedom {{!}} Saving Earth {{!}} Encyclopedia Britannica |url=https://explore.britannica.com/explore/savingearth/the-dancing-bears-of-india-moving-toward-freedom |archive-url=http://web.archive.org/web/20250325020912/https://explore.britannica.com/explore/savingearth/the-dancing-bears-of-india-moving-toward-freedom |archive-date=2025-03-25 |access-date=2025-12-05 |work=Saving Earth {{!}} Encyclopedia Britannica |language=en-US}}</ref><ref name="bbclast">{{cite news |date=20 December 2009 |title=Charity frees 'last' dancing bear|url=https://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/england/sussex/8423470.stm |work=BBC News |location= |access-date=31 August 2024}}</ref><ref name=":2">{{Cite journal |last1=D'Cruze |first1=Neil |last2=Sarma |first2=Ujjal Kumar |last3=Mookerjee |first3=Aniruddha |last4=Singh |first4=Bhagat |last5=Louis |first5=Jose |last6=Mahapatra |first6=Rudra Prasanna |last7=Jaiswal |first7=Vishnu Prasad |last8=Roy |first8=Tarun Kumar |last9=Kumari |first9=Indu |last10=Menon |first10=Vivek |date=2011 |title=Dancing bears in India: A sloth bear status report |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/41304061 |journal=Ursus |volume=22 |issue=2 |pages=99–105 |doi=10.2192/URSUS-D-10-00033.1 |jstor=41304061 |issn=1537-6176}}</ref> In 2009, the animal rescue organisation Wildlife SOS reported that the last dancing bear had been saved.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/south_asia/8421867.stm|publisher=BBC News|title=Last Indian dancing bear set free|date=18 December 2009|access-date=4 January 2017|archive-date=5 January 2011|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110105114846/http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/south_asia/8421867.stm|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title="Dancing Bear" Project |url=https://wildlifesos.org/conservation/dancing-bear-project/ |access-date=2025-12-05 |website=Wildlife SOS |language=en-US}}</ref> However, there have been subsequent reports of the practice resurfacing in at least 7 states across India.<ref name=":2" /><ref>{{Cite web |date=2024-04-09 |title=Dancing bears rescued from 'deeply concerning' trade |url=https://www.newsweek.com/dancing-bears-rescued-india-concerned-resurging-1888442 |access-date=2025-12-05 |website=Newsweek |language=en}}</ref> In 2017, the last known dancing bears of Nepal were rescued.<ref>{{Cite web |date=2017-12-22 |title=Bear rescue: We just saved Nepal's last two 'dancing bears' |url=https://www.worldanimalprotection.org/latest/news/bear-rescue-we-just-saved-nepals-last-two-dancing-bears/ |access-date=2025-12-05 |website=World Animal Protection |language=en-GB}}</ref>

===French bear handlers=== Traveling with a bear was very popular in France at the end of the 19th century, between 1870 and 1914. More than 600 men from Ariège in the French Pyrenees trained bear cubs found in the mountains near their home. Among them, 200 traveled to North America arriving at the ports of New York, Quebec, Montreal and Halifax from the ports of Liverpool, Glasgow and Belfast.<ref>Louise Pagé, The Man behind the Dancing Bear, amazon.ca, ISBN 9782981754516</ref> They would leave their home early in spring, walking from the Pyrenees through France and England, earning money for the crossing in order to arrive in North America in May or June.

===Gallery=== <gallery mode=packed> File:Dancing bear by Olearius (1883323).jpg|Engraving with dancing bear from Adam Olearius's ''Travels'', 1656 File:Bohemian Bear Tamer 01.jpg|''Bohemian Bear Tamer'', 1888 cast by Paul Wayland Bartlett File:Josephine the Bear at MBL Club.png|Josephine the Bear in Woods Hole, Massachusetts, {{circa|1915}} File:Pushkar-bear and handler.jpg|A dancing bear in Pushkar, India, 2003 File:Dancing bear in Beaulieu-sous-la-Roche, France 2007.jpg|Dancing bear in France, 2007 </gallery>

==See also== * Iomante * ''The Bear Comes Home'' * Ursari * Bear-baiting * Corbinian's Bear * Wojtek (bear)

==References== {{Reflist}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Tame Bear}} Category:Bears in culture Category:Animal rights Category:Animals in entertainment Category:Animal training Category:Cruelty to animals