10 Facts About Bears

1. There are eight species of bear: American black, polar, giant panda, Asiatic black, sloth bears, sun bears, spectacled bears and brown bears.


2. Black bears can run at speeds up to 35mph.


3. A male bear is a boar; a female is a sow.


4. Lord Byron kept a pet bear in his rooms at Cambridge, because he was not allowed a dog.


5. A bear named Wojtek was officially drafted as a private in the Polish army during the Second World War.

6. Originally a mascot, he lived with other soldiers in their tents, and helped at the Battle of Monte Cassino in Italy by transporting ammunition.


7. After the war, Wojtek retired to Edinburgh Zoo where he would wave at visitors who spoke to him in Polish. He died aged 22 in December 1963.


8. Shakespeare’s play The Winter’s Tale includes the stage direction: “Exit, pursued by a bear”. It is not known whether Shakespeare used a real bear from London’s bear-pits or an actor in a bear suit.


9. Peter the Great of Russia (1672-1725) trained bears to serve alcoholic drinks to his guests.


10. Grizzly bears can remember the faces of other bears they have not seen for 10 years or more.