The dancing bear by William Frederick Witherington

A tame bear, often called a dancing bear, is a wild

bear Bears are carnivoran mammals of the family (biology), family Ursidae (). They are classified as caniforms, or doglike carnivorans. Although only eight species of bears are extant, they are widespread, appearing in a wide variety of habitats ...

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.

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. Another tactic is considered inhumane today but is still practiced in some countries by semi-nomadic people living in extreme poverty. These handlers file down the bear's teeth and push a hot iron rod through the top of the bear's nuzzle 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. 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. Bears might also be starved in an attempt to render them less aggressive.

History

ancient Rome In modern historiography, ancient Rome is the Roman people, Roman civilisation from the founding of Rome, founding of the Italian city of Rome in the 8th century BC to the Fall of the Western Roman Empire, collapse of the Western Roman Em ...

, bears and monkeys were led to dance and perform tricks for the public. Following the fall of the

Western Roman Empire In modern historiography, the Western Roman Empire was the western provinces of the Roman Empire, collectively, during any period in which they were administered separately from the eastern provinces by a separate, independent imperial court. ...

, dancing bears continued to be commonplace throughout Europe and Asia. By the fifteenth century, the practice began to dwindle in

Western Europe Western Europe is the western region of Europe. The region's extent varies depending on context. The concept of "the West" appeared in Europe in juxtaposition to "the East" and originally applied to the Western half of the ancient Mediterranean ...

and was officially banned in the UK in 1911. Dancing bears continued to appear frequently in Eastern Europe and Asia until the late 20th century. Dancing bears were banned in India under the 1972 Wildlife Protection Act. The last of them were freed in 2009. In Russia and

Siberia Siberia ( ; , ) is an extensive geographical region comprising all of North Asia, from the Ural Mountains in the west to the Pacific Ocean in the east. It has formed a part of the sovereign territory of Russia and its predecessor states ...

, cubs were for centuries captured for being used as dancing bears accompanying tavern musicians ('' skomorokhi''), as depicted in the ''Travels'' of Adam Olearius. Dancing bears were widespread throughout Europe from the Middle Ages to the 19th century. They were still present on the streets of Spain in 2007, and in Eastern Europe. Recently, organizations and animal rights activists have worked to outlaw or eliminate tame bears, since the practice is seen as cruel and antiquated, citing mistreatment and abuse used in order to train the bears.

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.Louise Pagé, The Man behind the Dancing Bear, amazon.ca, ISBN 9782981754516 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

File:Dancing Bear Adam Olearius Travels.jpg, Engraving with dancing bear from Adam Olearius's ''Travels'', 1647 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, 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

References