







I had to bear my beer aloft to see the bears at Noboribetsu Bear Park in the northern Japanese island of Hokkaido. At the park it certainly wasn't bare of bear but fortunately the bears weren't grizzly and found us humans bearable especially as we had treats to bring to bear. They could barely contain themselves shamelessly pandering to us with paws to the wall antics.





When the cuteness became near unbearable, I took a pawse and went to the Ainu section where they had squirrels and tanuki - Japan's raccoon dog. Despite the legends, the tanuki did not have a ginormous scrotum that kind which smothered many hapless hunters in mythical tales of freudian overtones.





They also have duck racing - I lost 200¥ on a lame duck. It costs about 2500¥ to visit the park and you get a gondola ride up the mountain which has some nice scenery. This is definitely a safer way to see Japanese brown bears rather than risking an encounter in the wild. There are still grizzly memories of a bear attack from a century ago when one killed seven people and possibly a few more before that so bear that in mind before you think to jump the railing and bare your soul to these majestic creatures.





Bear up Bear down





Just bear us in mind





Pardon me, I'm a little grizzly





Black bear performer bears watching

Raccoon Dog - Tanuki

Hang on! Lost my bearing!



Gondola ride to the bear park





The crows are there to snatch treats from slow bears

But most bears don't bear a grudge against the crows





Bear hoping humans will toss one of those juicy kids

Barefoot in the Park

Bear arms to catch treats





Bear with me, folks, but she's cool

I bare my soul

Paws right there

Unbearably pandaring





I'd like to bear witness to a treat

Bearing the brunt of a full aerobic workout





Proof that the park's breeding program does bear fruit

Ainu Style Buildings





Ainu Dave - did you?



