A tame bear, often called a dancing bear, is a wild bear captured when young, or born and bred in captivity, and 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 Ancient Rome, bears and monkeys were led to dance and perform tricks for the public.[1] Dancing bears were commonplace in the Indian subcontinent for centuries. The last of them were freed in 2009.[2]
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.[3] 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,[4] 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.[5] [6]
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.[7] 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.