Like any good clown he is also a good acrobat with a fine sense of balance and timing. He is a great climber in spite of his bulk. Shrewd and droll, he is very popular in menageries and as a performer in circuses and side shows because he learns tricks easily. He can stand on his hind legs to wrestle, box, dance, or beg for food and, occasionally, one becomes a graceful artist on roller skates. They love applause.
Some bears are the largest of all flesh-eating mammals.
They have robust bodies, short stubby tails and stout thickset legs. A dead bear, skinned, has such a startling resemblance to a human body that the Indians begged his pardon for killing him. The black bear is smaller than the grizzly, the polar bear and the giant Alaskan bears. Originally it was found throughout most of the wooded parts of the continent but they have been exterminated in many regions. When grown they are commonly about 5 feet long, stand about 25 inches high at the shoulder and weigh 200 to 300 pounds, although some old males have weighed 500 pounds, The claws of the forefeet, which Indians prized for necklaces, are curved and longer than the hind claws.