Eight species of bear remain in the world, and six of them are on the so-called Red List, which designates those species threatened with extinction. The Sloth Bear, the Spectacled Bear, the Giant Panda, the Sun Bear, the Asiatic Black Bear and (a recent addition to the list) the Polar Bear: all are on or near the brink. Poaching and hunting nip at the edges of bear populations, but it is habitat loss, primarily deforestation, that is the biggest menace. If you go down to the woods today, you’re increasingly unlikely to see any bears, or any woods.

Seven years ago, Brian Payton began a series of journeys through bear country. He travelled to Peru, Cambodia, China, northern India, Canada, Italy, the Pyrenees (which has a population of 15 brown bears), and various bear-hunting states of the USA. He met the heroes and the villains of the bear world. And he collected and sorted some of the folklore and legends that the bear has generated about itself.

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