Haven Hereford - Change 5 - Changing attitudes to Animals

The human animal is not always fair to other species.  In Britain there have been changes in the way we treat animals over the years and in the 20th Century we began to legislate to protect animals from exploitation. This is a huge subject so I decided to focus on bears! 

Here's a lovely short poem about Polar Bears:

The Polar Bear

Jack Prelutsky

The polar bear by being white
gives up his camouflage at night,
And, yet without a thought or care,
he wanders here, meanders there,
and gaily treads the ice floes
completely unconcerned with foes.
For after dark nobody dares
to set out after polar bears.

Not so very long ago men were still seen at fairs leading "dancing bears" on chains and making them "dance" as a spectacle in order to earn a few coins. 

This photograph was taken in England in the early 20th century.

Then we did a huge BEAR mindmap and talked about bearish things and especially all those fictional bears that have made us sentimental about this rather large and scary creature. There were some wonderful family anecdotes told about ancestors who had had dealings with bears. 

Fictional Bears 

include Winnie the Pooh and Paddington Bear who have both had phenomenal success in many countries and over many years. 

We discussed the motive for humans trying to make such a large wild animal seem small and cuddly.  Is it a need to overcome our fear of the wilderness or is it simply that the bear has such cool hair? 

Finally - if ever you need cheering up watch the Youtube clip of the splendid Michael Rosen performing "We're Going on a Bear Hunt".