OF WILD ANIMALS 



*35 



den of two Kluane grizzly cubs and shouted for nearly half an 

 hour in approval and admiration of the rapid and rough play 

 of those cubs. 



The play of bears, young or middle-aged, consists in boxing, 

 catch-as-catch-can wrestling, and chasing each other to and fro. 

 Cubs begin to spar as soon as they are old enough to stand 

 erect on their hind feet. They take their distance as naturally 

 as prize-fighters, and they strike, parry and dodge just as men 

 do. They handle their front feet with far more dexterity and 

 precision than boys six years of age. 



Boxing bears always strike for the head, and bite to seize 

 the cheek of the opponent. In biting, mouth meets mouth, in 

 defense as well as attack. When a biting bear makes a suc- 

 cessful pass and finally succeeds in getting a firm toothhold on 

 the cheek of his opponent, the party of the second part promptly 

 throws himself prone upon the ground, and with four free feet 

 concentrated upon the head of the other bear forces him to let 

 go. This movement, and the four big, flat foot soles coming up 

 into action is, in large bears, a very laughable spectacle, and 

 generally produces a roar. 



Wrestling bears roll over and over on the ground, clawing 

 and biting, until one scrambles up, and either makes a new 

 attack or rushes away. 



Bears love to chase one another, and be chased; and in this 

 form of skylarking they raise a whirlwind of activity which 

 leads all around the floor, up to the balcony and along the length 

 of it, and plunges down at the other end. Often a bear that is 

 chased will fling himself into the bathing pool, with a tre- 

 mendous splash, quickly scramble out again and rush off anew 

 in a swirl of flying water. 



The two big male polar bears that came to us from the 

 William Hagenbeck group were very fond of playing and wrest- 

 ling in the water of their swimming pool. Often they kept 

 up that aquatic skylarking for two hours at a stretch, and by 

 this constant claw work upon each others pelts they kept their 



