Bear-leader

{{Short description|Historical profession in blood sport}}

{{other uses|Bear-leader (guide)|Leading the bear}}

File:Dr James Hay as Bear Leader, 1704-1729.png

A bear-leader was historically a man who led bears about the country.{{clarify|reason=Which country?|date=June 2023}} In the Middle Ages and the Tudor period, these animals were chiefly used in the blood sport of bear-baiting and were led from village to village. Performing bears were also common; their keepers were generally Frenchmen or Italians.{{EB1911|inline=1|wstitle=Bear-Leader|volume=3|page=582}}

Later, the phrase bear-leader came colloquially to mean a tutor or guardian, who escorted any young man of rank or wealth on his travels.{{sfn|Chisholm|1911}}

Until well into the 1990s, Roma, like the Ursari in Romania, Mečkara in Bulgaria and Serbia, and Ajdžide in Turkey carried out this activity.Zuzana Bodnárová, [https://rm.coe.int/factsheets-on-romani-culture-1-7-romani-group-names/1680aac36b Romani group names]

The occupation was gradually banned by animal rights activists.