Bears On Stamps... Minus Polar Bears!

Japan
World Heritage III
July 6, 2007
Set of ten, one stamp depicts a Japanese brown bear.

On September 18, 1999 Lithuania issued this one lita stamp (Sc #643) as a part of its Municipal Arms series. Stamp depicts the coat of arms of Siauliai, located in the north central part of the country. Siauliai (pop. 101,500) is Lithuania's fourth largest city.

From heraldry.wiki.com, ":...arms were granted on November 9, 1791...the (attacking) bear of the Duchy of Samoglia...above is a Ducal crown."

On December 17, 1994 Latvia issued a one-pane booklet of 6 stamps (2 x 3 designs) to commemorate the 80th birthday of Russian-born, children's book illustrator Margarita Staraste-Bordevika (1914-2014). Booklet pane featured 2 different 10 santims stamps and a 5 santims stamp. The stamp featuring the bear illustration (Sc #390) is shown here.

Second pic shows the pane's large selvage featuring another Staraste illustration.

Two pandas appear on this November 20, 1992 machine postmark of Wichita, Kansas, USA.

Slogan says, "DO SOMETHING WILD: COLLECT STAMPS."

Here is Lithuania's October 23, 1999, 70 centas stamp (Sc #647) commemorating the bicentenary of the birth of writer Simonas Stanevicius (1799 - 1848). Stanevicius's most memorable stories deal with fables and folklore.

From wikipedia, "(A) most important fable is Arklys ir Meska (The Horse and the Bear)...as they depict the worldview, values and culture of everyday Samogitian peasants."

Smokey Bear (USA) is very often erroneously called "Smokey the Bear".

Anyway, here is the pictorial portion of a Smokey Bear machine cancel which I believe was in use for several decades.

On October 25, 2002 the USA issued a set of 50 different, 37c "Greetings from America" stamps designed to look like 1950's-60's postcards. Each stamp is a different U.S. state with the designs arranged alphabetically (Alabama to Wyoming) in the 5 x 10 stamp pane. The Alaska stamp (position 2, Sc #3697) depicts a brown bear fishing for salmon.

An identically designed 34c "Greetings from America" sheet was issued on April 4, 2002...prior to the rate increase.

This January 5, 1998 German cancel of 'Briefzentrum 44' (Mail Processing Center #44, Dortmund) shows a seated mama bear and her cub with a banner stating "Bear's Purse". This is a promotion for the 'Spielbank' (Casino) of Hohensyburg, in the south of Dortmund. The business is located near the old castle ruins.

From tripadvisor.com, "Here you will find a wide range of roulette, blackjack, baccarat, state-of-the-art slot machines and jackpots."

"The peasant and the bear" (Muzik ei Medved), Russian Folk Legend, issued by the USSR on May 15, 1961:

This stamp was issued in a set shows Artisans. It shows carver carving wooden figures of the peasant and the bear, issued by the Soviet Union on March 20, 1957:

Caucasian Brown Bear (Ursus arctos caucasious), issued by the Republic of Mountainous Karabakh (Artsakh - Ngorno Karabach) in 2009:

Brown Bear (Ursus arctos), issued by Israel on February 22, 2005 as one of a set of four stamps entitled "Animals in the Bible".

This stamp was issued is small format and different value in SS:

Malayan Sun Bear (Helarctos malayanus), an Asian bear, issued by the Kingdom of Laos on November 6, 1969:

The Cave Bear (Ursus spelaeus) was a species of bear that lived in Europe and Asia during the Pleistocene and became extinct about 24,000 years ago during the Last Glacial Maximum.

Neanderthals hunting cave bear - North Korea 1998:
design of the hunters based on a design by the Czech artist Zdenek Burian (1905-1981) who specialized in prehistoric animal paintings and published many illustration in this subject. There are many stamps depicting his designs.

Romania - 1966:

Cuba - 2002:

Cave Bear skeleton, meter from Germany - 2005:

Brown Bear (Ursus arctos) on a painting, issued by North Korea on June 10, 2003. Issued in a souvenir sheet shows the complete painting:

The UN issued a very long series depicting endangered species under the protection of CITES (The Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species). Here are a small group of bear stamps from this series:

Sun Bear (Helarctos malayanus), UN New York Office, 1998:

Brown Bear (Ursus arctos), UN New York Office, 2000:

Spectacled Bear (Tremarctos ornatus), UN Vienna Office, 2001:

American Black Bear (Ursus americanus), UN New York Office, 2004:

Asian Black Bear (Ursus thibetanus), UN Geneva Office, 2004:

Sloth Bear (Melursus ursinus),UN Vienna Office, 2004: