Bear-dog Hybrids

Mammalian Hybrids

EUGENE M. MCCARTHY, PHD GENETICS, ΦΒΚ

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An ostensible bear dog hybrid found recently (2018) in Russia

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The bear dog was brought to a shelter in Chelyabinsk.

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The bear parent in question would presumably be Ursus arctos

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Close-up of bear-dog's face

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Bear-dog standing

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Bear-dog standing (Enlargeable)

A diligent scholar is like a bee who takes honey from many different flowers and stores it in his hive.

—John Amos Comenius

This cross, which is interfamilial (Canidae × Ursidae), is listed in various older works. However, the disparity of the cross and the old and unreliable nature of most of the documenting sources raise many questions.

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Russian bear-dog

There is, however, a recent (2018) case of an ostensible bear-dog for which photographic evidence has become available (see slide show above and enlargeable photo at right). This apparent bear-dog hybrid was brought to an animal shelter in the Russian city of Chelyabinsk. Its parentage is unknown, but it has obvious traits in common with a bear. Given the geographic location, the bear parent in question would be Ursus arctos, the Brown Bear. The photos shown here were released by the shelter.

Brown bear, Ursus arctos

This cross rarely occurs or, at least, is rarely recorded. Indeed, it seems that all reports other than the recent one about the Chelyabinsk animal, are at least a century old. But then again, encounters between bears and dogs would no doubt have been far more common in former days when bears themselves were far more common and widespread.

One of the least antique of these early accounts is the following article, quoted here in its entirety from the American Veterinary Review (1905-6, vol. 29, p. 408). It seems to be the only scientific paper ever to report such a hybrid.

Black bear, Ursus americanus

Ursus-Canis (Presumably [Ursus] Americanus). — Half bear half dog, a remarkable prodigy of nature, was brought to the city [Denver, Colorado] Wednesday morning from Nebraska by I. Pinter. It is the only known example of the crossing of the dog and bear families. “Teddy” is the name of the hybrid. His mother was a common stray dog of North Platte, Neb., a little bigger than a Scotch terrier and of the same general build and color. Father Bear has never been seen. The dam gave birth to a litter of five of the strange puppies, but four were born dead. The creature is now eleven months old and weighs about thirty-five pounds, but looks much heavier. At first sight the animal gives the impression of a peculiar kind of dog, although on closer examination the bear peculiarities are more evident. The ears are long and drooping, like those of a spaniel, the tail is also that of a spaniel. The eyes are large and have the mild, dog like expression. A bear has short upstanding ears, a stub tail never more than a couple of inches long and the eyes are small and quite different in expression and the manner they are set in the head. But the bear hump is very plain above the hindquarters. The legs are bear paws thick as a man’s arm and short, with pads, that will in time make an impression similar to the human foot, and the claws are long. Teddy has never been heard to bark, but will occasionally give a modest bear’s growl. In habits he is more like a bear than a dog, lying down on his side like bruin instead of upright as is the fashion in the canine world. He always lies down to eat. The animal shows very little intelligence and energy. He has not strength enough to walk upstairs and will refuse to go more than a mile at a time unless very slow progress is made.

Another report dating to the early part of the twentieth century appeared in the Yakima, Washington, Herald (Jan. 11, 1911, p. 8, col. 4):

COL. ASTOR TO BRING FREAK DOG

Asked to Bring “Bear-Dog” to Celebration of Founding of City—Will Participate in Centennial Which is Being Planned.

John Jacob Astor IV
1864-1912

PORTLAND, Ore., Jan. 10—(Special)—People of Astoria, Ore., who will celebrate the centennial of the founding of that city next summer, it being the first American settlement on the Pacific coast, are much interested in announcements that Col. John Jacob Astor, descendant of the founder of their town, has found a rare curiosity in his “bear-dog,” and will ask him to bring this strange animal to the celebration.
Col. Astor, according to reports which have excited the Astorians, has an animal that is plainly half dog and half bear. He bought it from gypsies in the Pyrenees Mountains. He says it walks with a “waddling gait,” and is wholly unknown to the common or garden variety of scientists that infest New York.

Looks Like a Bear

One attempts to explain the freak by saying it is a young St. Bernard and another inclines to the belief that the gypsies sold a dwarf bear to the colonel. But the fact remains that the “bear-dog” is unlike anything ever seen before and Col. Astor has offered $5000 to anyone who would enter in the dog show at Madison Square Garden in New York a similar “bear-dog.”

A 1911 news notice about a bear-dog. Possibly the same animal owned by Astor? (source: The Fairmont West Virginian, Sep. 13, 1911, p. 8, col. 3).

So the scientists and near-scientists of Manhattan are said to be running around in circles, giving tongue to yelps of irritation. To some thoughtful ones, however, the freak animal suggests unlimited possibilities. If it is possible to cross bears and dogs, they say there is no end to the changes they can make in the animal kingdom. Recent experiments whereby scientists have produced enormous frogs by dissecting, combining and fertilizing eggs lend encouragement to this hope.
Col. Astor is expected to represent his illustrious ancestor of the same name at the Astoria Centennial and will probably be made honorary chairman of the affair. People of the coast hope to have a look at the “bear-dog.”

One of the richest men in America, Astor died the following year in the sinking of the Titanic.

A report twenty years older than that just quoted, appeared in the Waterbury, Connecticut, Evening Democrat (Mar. 26, 1892, p. 2, col. 4):

A REMARKABLE HYBRID

Illustration from the original article.

    One of the officers who served in the Nineteeth Kansas cavalry under Gen. Sheridan during the same Indian troubles [told of in a previous section of the same article], tells a wonderful story of a hybrid found in an Arapahoe village. The Indian villages in the Wichita mountains [in the southwestern portion of what is today the U.S. state of Oklahoma] were captured in January 1869, and contained the old men and squaws of the tribe of hostiles, while the warriors were still out on the warpath. In these villages there were many objects of curiosity, and the officers and men of the Nineteenth Kansas and Seventh United States cavalry used to spend much time visiting them.
    One afternoon several of the officers of the Nineteenth Kansas were sauntering through the Arapahoe encampment, when they were somewhat startled by coming upon a ferocious looking brute tied behind one of the Indian wickies. it was about the size of a year old Newfoundland dog and of a greyish brown color. The head and neck presented a wild and formidable appearance, somewhat resembling a mountain lion, while the body and limbs were long and lank and decidedly wolfish ins shape and looks. While critically examining it from a safe distance an old squaw came out and thorough a half-breed interpreter, with the party, the gentleman learned that its singular pedigree. A female Indian dog had crossed with a coyote, the offspring being female, and this hybrid had again crossed with a cinnamon bear [see discussion of cinnamon bears below], the result being the animal before them. Capt. David Payne of the Nineteenth was seized with a desire to possess the brute and found little difficulty in persuading the squaw to exchange it for a moderate quantity of coffee and sugar. Being taken to camp it became the general of curiosity, and many an evening game of poker was played for its possession, everyone being anxious to bring it back to the states and open negotiations with Barnum for a fancy price.
    It required but little experience with the brute to demonstrate the fact that it entirely belied its looks, and was really one of the most timorous and cowardly of animals. Pointing a finger at it would make the cur slink behind the tent in abject fear, while it would run away from the smallest dog in camp. It had simply inherited all the bad qualities of its mixed ancestry and none of the good ones.
    About the middle of February its owner got a leave of absence to return to Kansas in company with Col. Crawford of the Nineteenth, who had resigned his commission, and the attempt was made do bring the brute into the purviews of civilization. As the trip of some 550 miles had to be made with pack-mules, it was necessary to lead the dog and he was placed in charge of the captain's orderly. In crossing the broad prairies between Fort Arbuckle and Fort Gibson, the animals feet became so sore and inflamed from cactus thorns that mortification took place and he had to be killed. Even the skin could not be saved and thus this remarkable hybrid was entirely lost to science.
    There are few records of hybrids breeding in the second generation, but this case was well authenticated, and the brute is well remembered by the men of the Nineteenth Kansas, and many of the officers of the Seventh United States cavalry who survive the Big Horn Massacre.

The Arapaho are a tribe of Native Americans historically living on the plains of Colorado and Wyoming.

Cinnamon Bear
Image: Wikimedia

The Cinnamon Bear is usually treated as a subspecies (cinnamomum) of the Black Bear (Ursus americanus). However, since cinnamomum occurs in regions where U. americanus and the Brown Bear (U. arctos) overlap, and since it resembles the latter in coat color while being classified as a subspecies of the former, the possibility should be considered that it may be derived from hybridization between U. americanus and U. arctos, especially given that it is known that such hybrids have occurred both in the wild and in captivity.

Another report about a cinnamon bear crossing with a dog appeared in the Pueblo, Colorado, Chieftain (Apr. 1, 1886, p. 6, col. 2):

A Marvelous Freak or Nature

Last evening, the pet bear “Minnie,” that has for the past year made her home back of the Turf Exchange, gave birth to twins, much to the surprise of her owner and every one else. She is of medium size, weighing about 100 pounds, and of the Cinnamon species. She was purchased about a year ago when but a small cub, and has since been kept back of the ‘‘Turf” where she has become a great pet. The father of her puppies is a large, curly, black Newfoundland dog called “Babe,” and it is a matter of much interest to students of natural history to know that such a cross, heretofore considered impossible, can exist. The little strangers are about the size of new born Newfoundland puppies; one has black hair inclined to curl, and a white spot between its eyes, while the other resembles its mother in color. Both have short stumpy tails. They seem strong and healthy, and if they live they will be great curiosities, being the first on record. The mother, since the arrival of her babies, has shown signs of crossness so as to compel her being fenced in. She and her babies will be shipped to Denver tonight, and those who desire to see these most wonderful freaks of nature will have to call today.

From the Petaluma, California, Courier (Nov. 14, 1883, p. 3, col. 4):

Half Bear and Half Dog

On the ranch lately sold by Dr. Smith, one and a half miles west from town, is an animal that is unmistakably a cross between a California brown or cinnamon bear and a dog. It was caught when young in the mountains near Salinas fourteen years ago and has been kept by its present owner ever since. In color and appearance, when laying down, it would be taken for a bear, but when standing the dog cross is plainly visible. The head and tail show the bruin and the feet are about half bear and half dog, excepting the crook of the hind leg, which is longer and more doglike. His habits are more of the bear order, being morose and sulky, and during the winter inclined to sleep, and is ugly when disturbed. His bark is that of a Newfoundland dog, while his growl is that of a bear. Altogether it is a singular beast and an animal cross that we never suspected existed.

A passage excerpted from a description of an upcoming dog show (San Francisco, California, Chronicle, Apr. 27, 1883, p. 3, col. 7; ||y2nfjfdq):

On the stage, in the middle of its forwaqrd edge, is one kennel which will be worthily tenanted by the nondescript imported from Africa and owned by a French gentleman residing at the Half-mile House. The nondescript is half bear and half dog and it is presumable that spectators are to look only at the half that is dog. His pedigree is unknown. He is one and a half years old, has a short tail, and the only food he partakes of is what the French gentleman gives him and the poultry, sheeps, pits and other undersized diet that he packs away from the neighbors.

A news notice about the demise of a bear-dog hybrid (The San Francisco Call, Jul. 19, 1902, p. 14; ||yxwklfqz):

Freak Animal Is Killed

The "half-bear, half-dog" which has been on exhibition at various places of amusement in this city for some years past was taken to the Animals' Home and asphyxiated by the officers of the Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals yesterday. The beast was paralyzed, rheumatic, had heart disease and was compelled to live in a saloon, as "French Pete," its master, had left it to shift for itself several weeks ago. It was deemed best, therefore, that the monstrosity should die.

And yet another report about a bear-dog in California (Santa Cruz, California, Evening Sentinel, Jun. 22, 1899, p. 3, col. 2; ||y6rx95gz).

P. E. de Ville of Dawson City is at the Riverside. He once owned the Treadwell mine. Mr. de Ville, some time ago, started to find the North Pole and met with many interesting adventures. He brought with him to this city an animal that is half bear and half dog.

A report about a bear-dog belonging to the Welsh Brothers Circus (Pottsville, Pennsylvania, Republican, May 28, 1897, p. 1, col. 7; ||y2efzt2y).

A story about a kidnapped bear-dog (Boston, Massachusetts, Globe, Aug. 24, 1884, p. 13, col. 6; ||y4zjk8ln).

bear-dog hybrid

A story about a grizzly bear/dog hybrid brought to San Francisco from the Klondike for an 1899 dog show (San Francisco, California, Call, Apr. 26, 1899, p. 13; ||y6m4qarz).

foot of a bear-dog hybrid

Hindfoot of an alleged bear-dog named "Bob" (left) compared to that of a grizzly (San Francisco, California, Examiner, Oct. 14, 1901, p. 1; ||y5phj9lh).

foot of a bear-dog hybrid

A description of the alleged bear-dog named "Bob" whose hindfoot is compared to that of a grizzly in the picture above (San Francisco, California, Examiner, Oct. 14, 1901, p. 1; ||y5phj9lh).

bear-dog hybrid

Report about a bear-dog weighing more than 200 pounds (Oshkosh, Wisconsin, Northwestern, Nov. 7, 1901, p. 3, col. 3; ||yynqls77).

bear-dog hybrid

Report about a bear-dog being given to the Salt Lake City Zoo (Salt Lake City, Tribune, May. 16, 1932, p. 16, col. 3; ||yynqls77). Peoa is an unincorporated census-designated place in southwestern Summit County, Utah, between Jordanelle and Rockport state parks.

Above: Picture that accompanied the story shown below, about a bear-dog hybrid in Herbertsville, New Jersey (Long Branch, New Jersey, Daily Record, Sep. 11, 1943, p. 1; ||yyxd23r3). Herbertsville is an unincorporated community located within Brick Township in Ocean County, New Jersey.

Above: News report about a bear-dog hybrid (see picture above) birthed by a chow dog bitch who had mated with a bear, presumably a black bear, given the locale (Long Branch, New Jersey, Daily Record, Sep. 11, 1943, p. 1; ||yyxd23r3). Herbertsville is an unincorporated community located within Brick Township in Ocean County, New Jersey.

Above: A report about two ostensible bear-dog hybrids (St. Louis Post-Dispatch Apr. 19, 1896, p. 33; ||y5b4aa63).

Above: A report in the Wilmington, North Carolina Messenger, Oct. 15, 1890, p. 2; ||y2nosx5z).

bear-dog hybrid

Above: A report about a chicken-rustling bear-dog (Philadelphia Inquirer, Mar. 19, 1896, p. 4; ||yxsfr5l4).

bear-dog hybrid

Above: A report about the capture of a bear-dog (Freeland Tribune, Freeland, Pennsylvania, Apr. 3, 1890, p. 1).

bear-dog hybrid

Above: A report about a traveling bear-dog (Topeka, Kansas, Weekly Times, Aug. 22, 1884, p. 1).

bear-dog hybrid

Above: A report about a bear-dog in Sioux City (National Republican, Washington, D. C., Jan. 2, 1872, p. 1).

bear-dog hybrid

Above: A report about a bear-dog in Portland (Nogales International, Nogales, Ariz., Nov. 15, 1925, p. 6; ||5rw5r2vr).

Bear-dog Hybrids: Early reports

Older reports of bear-dog hybrids exist as well. Writing during the Elizabethan era, the French humanist Pierre Boaistuau, in his Histoires prodigieuses, says dogs and bears were intentionally mated in London and that sometimes a hybrid resulted.

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Woodcut illustration of an supposed bear-dog hybrid (Boaistuau 1591, p. 206).

He includes an illustration (above) of what he says was a bear-dog hybrid born of a bitch mated with a bear (“La mere qui la porta estoit chiene, & le masle qui la couvrit estait ours.”). Bears and dogs, usually mastiffs, were kept to fight in the bear baitings so popular at the time. An English translation of the passage in question (Boaistuau 1591, pp. 133-135) reads as follows:

This monstrous animal, which you see illustrated at the beginning of this chapter, was engendered by an English bitch covered by a bear. As a result, it partakes of the nature of both, which will not seem strange to those who have observed how in London dogs and bears are kept in small cages near each other. Their keepers cage a bear and a dog together when they are in heat, so that pressed by their natural urges, they convert their cruelty into love. From such conjunctions are sometimes born animals like this one, albeit quite rarely. Among these I have seen two, which were given to his grace the Marquis de Trans. One of these he gave to my lord the Conte d’Alphestan, the Emperor’s ambassador. The other, he had taken to France, which I have had reproduced here. The illustrator has omitted nothing. [Translated by E. M. McCarthy. Original French.]

Boaistuau then turns to a discussion of other types of hybrids, but eventually returns to his description of the bear-dog:

But to return to the description of our animal, of which you can see the appearance is so monstrous, it resembles a small bear, and is also in its movements, its voice, and manner of doing all things more like a bear than a dog. Moreover, I can assure you that he is one of the most ferocious beasts that you will ever see, for there is no species of animal that he will not attack, be it a bear, a lion, or a bull, or others of a similar kind. And he is so ardent in these combats that once he has sunk his teeth into some beast, he would rather be dismembered than relinquish his grip, as I can attest after witnessing him in combat against a bear in London. [Translated by E. M. McCarthy. Original French.]

The exact identity of the bears involved in Elizabethan bear baitings is somewhat in doubt. But it seems that the Brown Bear (Ursus arctos) is the animal in question. No bears of any other kind were present in Europe. As Henry Reeks (1878) states in a scholarly article on mammals mentioned by Shakespeare, the brown bear (he refers to Ursus arctos and to its synonym Ursus isabellinus) “would probably be the bear with which Shakespeare would be most familiar. Bear baiting seems to have been a very popular amusement about that period and for many years subsequently.”

An Elizabethan bear baiting

Though one might suppose that a brown bear would be far too large to mate with a dog, there is a very wide range of geographic variation in the adult size of these animals. Nowak (1999, pp. 685-686) states that while brown bears may weigh as much as 780 kg (1720 lbs) on the southern coast of Alaska, elsewhere they can be far smaller. For example, the average figure he gives for southern Europe is just 70 kg (154 lbs). It does seem, then, that some bears would be within the size range that would allow mating with a large dog, such as a mastiff.

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17th-century depiction of a mastiff.

Another report about such a cross was given by Jakob Benjamin Fischer in his Naturgeschichte von Livland (1791, p. 146), where mentions a bear-dog hybrid that was supposedly fertile. He gives the cross in the same direction as in the account of the Denver hybrid and that by Boaistuau (female dog/male bear), but in the opposite direction from that specified above in the Pueblo Chieftain:

One has the example of a bear mixing sexually with a dog. In Riga, a male bear mated with a bitch, which went on to produce offspring. Among these was a remarkable dog. He had a bear’s head and no tail. His voice was a dog’s bark mixed with the growling of a bear. They let this dog mate with a bitch, but no great caution was taken—she probably mated with other dogs—and at her expected time she gave birth to sixteen puppies (an unusual example of canine fertility) of which only six resembled the bear hybrid, with bear’s heads, shaggy coats, and no tails. One sees from this, that it is in fact possible for hybrid beasts to produce offspring. [Translated by E. M. McCarthy.]

Gestation periods
The gestation periods of dogs and bears differ widely (a little over two months in the former versus 7 months in the latter).

Chromosomes
The chromosome counts of dogs and bears are fairly similar (in dogs, 2n=78, in both black and brown bears, 2n=74).

Scherren (1907, pp. 432-433) provides a brief review of reports alleging the occurrence of this cross.

Nowadays, dogs and bears are rarely caged together, and there seem to be no reports about attempts to cross them. Therefore, it must remain an open question whether the various early reports about bear-dog hybrids have any basis in fact.

Prehistoric Bear-dogs

Fossils demonstrate the former existence of animals known as bear-dogs (Family Amphicyonidae, 46.2-1.8 mya) and dog-bears (Family Hemicyonidae, 33.9–5.3 mya). These creatures were so named because they had both bear- and dog-like traits. An example of the bear-dog Amphicyon, is shown above and an artist’s reconstruction of the dog-bear Hemicyon appears below.

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By the same author: Handbook of Avian Hybrids of the World, Oxford University Press (2006).

An account of Elizabethan bull and bear baiting

“There is still another place, built in the form of a theatre, which serves for the baiting of bulls and bears they are fastened behind and then worried by great English bull-dogs but not without great risk to the dogs from the horns of the one and the teeth of the other; and it sometimes happens that they are killed upon the spot, fresh ones are immediately supplied in the places of those that are wounded or tired.” (from Travels in England During the Reign of Queen Elizabeth by Paul Hentzner and Sir Robert Naunton)

On bear baiting
(from Chambers 1864)

“In the twelfth century, the baiting of bulls and bears was the favourite holiday pastime of Londoners; and although it was included in a proclamation of Edward III, among ‘dishonest, trivial, and useless games,’ the sport increased in popularity with all classes. Erasmus, who visited England in the reign of Henry VIII, speaks of ‘many herds’ of bears regularly trained for the arena; the rich nobles had their bearwards, and the royal establishment its ‘master of the king’s bears.’ For the better accommodation of the lovers of the rude amusement, the Paris Garden Theatre was erected at Bankside, the public being admitted at the charge of a penny at the gate, a penny at the entry of the scaffold, and a penny for quiet standing. When Queen Mary visited her sister during her confinement at Hatfield House, the royal ladies were entertained with a grand baiting of bulls and bears, with which they declared themselves ‘right well contented.’ Elizabeth took especial delight in seeing the courage of her English mastiffs pitted against the cunning of Ursa and the strength of Taurus. On the 25th of May 1559, the French ambassadors ‘were brought to court with music to dinner, and after a splendid dinner, were entertained with the baiting of bears and bulls with English dogs. The queen’s grace herself, and the ambassadors, stood in the gallery looking on the pastime till six at night.’ The diplomatists were so gratified that her majesty never failed to provide a similar show for any foreign visitors she wished to honour.”

The Paris Garden Theatre, Bankside, the primary venue for bear baitings in old London (engraving from Chambers 1864, vol. II, p. 57)