{{Short description|Historical profession in blood sport}} {{other uses|Bear-leader (guide)|Leading the bear}} thumb|right|A caricature of a bear-leader A '''bear-leader''' was historically a man who led bears about the country.{{clarify|reason=Which country?|date=June 2023}} In the Middle Ages and the Tudor period, these animals were chiefly used in the blood sport of bear-baiting and were led from village to village. Performing bears were also common; their keepers were generally Frenchmen or Italians.<ref name="EB1911">{{EB1911|inline=1|wstitle=Bear-Leader|volume=3|page=582}}</ref>
Later, the phrase ''bear-leader'' came colloquially to mean a tutor or guardian, who escorted any young man of rank or wealth on his travels.{{sfn|Chisholm|1911}}
Until well into the 1990s, Roma, like the Ursari in Romania, Mečkara in Bulgaria and Serbia, and Ajdžide in Turkey carried out this activity.<ref>Zuzana Bodnárová, [https://rm.coe.int/factsheets-on-romani-culture-1-7-romani-group-names/1680aac36b Romani group names]</ref>
The occupation was gradually banned by animal rights activists.
==References== {{Reflist}} {{Wiktionary|bearleader}}
{{EB1911 article with no significant updates}}
Category:Animal care occupations Category:Animal welfare Category:Baiting (blood sport) Category:Bears in culture Category:Bears in the United Kingdom Category:Cruelty to animals Category:Medieval occupations Category:Sports occupations and roles Category:Tudor England
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