128 THE MINDS AND MANNERS 



Now, with all this facility for emotional expression, backed 

 by an alert and many-sided mind, boundless energy and a playful 

 disposition, is it strange that bears are among the most inter- 

 esting animals in the world? 



Bears in Captivity. With but few exceptions the bears 

 of the world are animals with philosophic minds, and excellent 

 reasoning power, though rarely equal to that of the elephant. 

 One striking proof of this is the promptness with which adult 

 animals accept comfortable captivity, and settle down in con- 

 tentment. What we mean by comfortable captivity very 

 shortly will be defined. 



No bear should be kept in a cage with stone walls and an 

 uneven floor; nor without a place tp climb; and wherein life is 

 a daily chapter of inactive and lonesome discomfort and un- 

 happiness. The old-fashioned bear "pit" is an abomination 

 of desolation, a sink-hole of misery, and all such means of bear , 

 torture should be banished from all civilized countries* \ 



He who cannot make bears comfortable, contented and^ 

 happy should not keep any. -^ 



A large collection of bears of many species properly installed 

 may be relied upon to reveal many variations of temperament 

 and mentality, from the sanguine and good-natured stoic to 

 the hysterical demon. Captivity brings out many traits of« 

 character that in a wild state are either latent or absent. 



Prominent Traits of Prominent Species. After twenty 

 years of daily observation we now know that 



The grizzly is the most keen-minded species of aU bears. 



The big Alaskan brown bears are the least troublesome in 

 captivity. 



The polar bear lives behind a mask, and is not to be trusted. 



The black bear is the nearest approach to a general average 

 in ursine character. 



The European brown bears are best for training and per- 

 formances. 



The Japanese black bear is nervous, cowardly and hysterical; 



