bear

(pronunciation: ‘bear’ rhymes with the word “bare” — for the right pronunciation of this word, please click here)

a kind of animal – mammal – with large hairy body, strong limbs (hands and legs), a long snout (mouth and nose part), paws with sharp claws, very short tail, can stand upright on hind (back) limbs and with very short tail; lives on fruit, roots and leaves of plants and trees, and also eats honey, meat, fish and insects; about eight species (kinds) found in North America, South America, Europe and Asia, which means, not found in Africa and Australia

Polar bear and Giant panda are discussed under separate entries.

male ~~ boar/he-bear
female ~~ sow/she-bear
baby ~~ cub
group ~~ sleuth or sloth
voice (call) ~~ growl home ~~ den (cave, burrow)
movement ~~ amble

Special Features:

a teddy bear (a toy)

‘Bear’ is the national animal of Russia; and the brown bear is the national animal of Finland and Slovenia, countries in Europe.
American black bear is the state animal of Alabama, a state in the USA.
Grizzly bear is the state animal of California and Montana, States in the USA.
Black bear is the state animal of Louisiana, New Mexico and West Virginia, states in the USA.

a bear climbing a tree

“Teddy Bear” is a soft toy popular with children.
Its name appears in stories – ancient and modern.
Records show that bears have been worshipped since prehistoric times.
Bears take a long sleep (hibernation) in winter season when the weather is very cold and the food is hard to find (scarce), and wake up again when the weather gets warm.

a bear charmer or trainer

Bears have excellent sense of smell.

Though they have heavy bodies, they can run fast, climb trees and even swim.
Bear meat is eaten in several parts of the world; they are hunted for their meat, skin and claws, and out of fear.
Bears are trained to do such activities as boxing, cycling, dancing in circus.

And until recently bear trainers with bears doing antics in the streets, begging for money, (like snake charmers with snakes) were a common sight in towns and cities of Asian countries.