Tame bear

Last updated
The dancing bear by William Frederick Witherington, England, 1822 The dancing bear by William Frederick Witherington.jpg
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. [1] [2]

Contents

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. [3] Another tactic is considered inhumane today but is still practiced in some countries by semi-nomadic people living in extreme poverty. [4] 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. [3] 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. [3] [4] Bears might also be starved in an attempt to render them less aggressive. [3]

History

In ancient Rome, bears and monkeys were led to dance and perform tricks for the public. [5] Following the fall of the Western Roman Empire, dancing bears continued to be commonplace throughout Europe and Asia. [6] 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. [7] By the fifteenth century, the practice began to dwindle in Western Europe and was officially banned in the UK in 1911. [6] [8] Dancing bears continued to appear frequently in Eastern Europe and Asia until the late 20th century. [6]

In 2007, the presence of dancing bears at a circus in Spain prompted public outcry. [9] 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. [10] In 2009, Four Paws rescued the last dancing bears of Serbia. [11]

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. [12] [13] [14] In 2009, the animal rescue organisation Wildlife SOS reported that the last dancing bear had been saved. [15] [16] However, there have been subsequent reports of the practice resurfacing in at least 7 states across India. [14] [17] In 2017, the last known dancing bears of Nepal were rescued. [18]

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. [19] 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.

See also

References

  1. ↑ "Dancing bears". Bear Conservation. Retrieved 2020-11-09.
  2. ↑ "Traveling Bear Shows: Abuse and Neglect On Tour". PETA. 2017-10-30. Retrieved 2020-11-09.
  3. 1 2 3 4 Bieder, Robert E. (2005-08-18). Bear. London: Reaktion Books. pp. 106–110. ISBN   1-86189-204-7.
  4. 1 2 Blogger, Guest (2021-11-09). "Do dancing bears still exist?". World Animal Protection. Retrieved 2025-01-10.
  5. ↑ Pelin Tünaydın. "Pawing through the History of Bear Dancing in Europe" (PDF). Frühneuzeit-Info.
  6. 1 2 3 www.bearconservation.org.uk http://www.bearconservation.org.uk/dancing-bears/. Archived from the original on 2024-09-10. Retrieved 2025-01-14.{{cite web}}: Missing or empty |title= (help)
  7. ↑ Findeizen, Nikolai (2008). History of Music in Russia from Antiquity to 1800, Vol. 1: From Antiquity to the Beginning of the Eighteenth Century. Indiana University Press. p. 201. ISBN   978-0-253-02637-8.
  8. ↑ Bieder, Robert E. (2005-08-18). Bear. London: Reaktion Books. p. 110. ISBN   1-86189-204-7.
  9. ↑ Neale (Columnist), Adam (2007-10-16). "Dancing bears in Spain cause public outcry". Olive Press News Spain. Retrieved 2025-12-05.
  10. ↑ "BEAR SANCTUARY Belitsa – 20 year anniversary and a new name". FOUR PAWS International - Animal Welfare Organisation. Retrieved 2025-12-05.
  11. ↑ Đorđević, Nikola (2020-06-13). "Bears no longer dance in South Eastern Europe, but captivity and mistreatment are still an issue". Emerging Europe. Retrieved 2025-12-05.
  12. ↑ "The Dancing Bears of India: Moving Toward Freedom | Saving Earth | Encyclopedia Britannica". Saving Earth | Encyclopedia Britannica. 2007-12-17. Archived from the original on 2025-03-25. Retrieved 2025-12-05.
  13. ↑ "Charity frees 'last' dancing bear". BBC News. 20 December 2009. Retrieved 31 August 2024.
  14. 1 2 D'Cruze, Neil; Sarma, Ujjal Kumar; Mookerjee, Aniruddha; Singh, Bhagat; Louis, Jose; Mahapatra, Rudra Prasanna; Jaiswal, Vishnu Prasad; Roy, Tarun Kumar; Kumari, Indu; Menon, Vivek (2011). "Dancing bears in India: A sloth bear status report". Ursus. 22 (2): 99–105. ISSN   1537-6176.
  15. ↑ "Last Indian dancing bear set free". BBC News. 18 December 2009. Archived from the original on 5 January 2011. Retrieved 4 January 2017.
  16. ↑ ""Dancing Bear" Project". Wildlife SOS. Retrieved 2025-12-05.
  17. ↑ "Dancing bears rescued from 'deeply concerning' trade". Newsweek. 2024-04-09. Retrieved 2025-12-05.
  18. ↑ "Bear rescue: We just saved Nepal's last two 'dancing bears'". World Animal Protection. 2017-12-22. Retrieved 2025-12-05.
  19. ↑ Louise Pagé, The Man behind the Dancing Bear, amazon.ca, ISBN 9782981754516
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.