bears

There's a reason that people love bears as much as they do. The myth of the cuddly bear runs strong in our society. I mean, look at them. How can these huge bear-hugging animals be in any way dangerous? They were obviously designed for hugs. Cleary. How can you even argue with that? 

They're the cutest, the sweetest, and they're infinitely polite. Look at them waving! Just look at them, we dare your heart not to melt. It's impossible. It's a total dream to have a bear wave at us (and also give us a hug, but we'll settle for a wave for now). The cuteness is simply overwhelming. 

While all these photoshopped animals do look beautiful either way and some not even odd-looking, we're definitely grateful to live in a world where tigers and zebras have stripes. These animals have color and uniquely beautiful, if you photoshop out those iconic markings, it doesn't dilute their cuteness, but we've obviously come to love and admire these animals individual uniqueness. 

The team at Brightside.me has asked the question, "What would animals look like without their markings?" And then created it for us to help us imagine a world in which animals only come in one shade of color. Safe to say, we all love the animals just as they naturally are! 

It's National Hug A Bear Day! And we here at Cheezburger are celebrating! Now, it's important to remember that you should actually go out and hug a bear. That is a bit dangerous at the end of the day, no matter how cute and cuddly bears may appear. 

No, National Hug A Bear Day is actually a day that refers to teddy bears and is meant to celebrate hugging! Yeah, you heard right. On this day, you aren't supposed to go out and hug actual bears. The way to celebrate National Hug A Bear day is by hugging your teddy bear, or by hugging your friend's teddy bear, or giving a big ol' 'bear hug' to one of your friends or family members. 

That doesn't mean that actual bears shouldn't be celebrated, of course, since bears are unbearably awesome. So, since we can't come give y'all bear hugs right now, as a compromise, we've decided to give you an adorable collection of some of the most teddy bear-like looking bear cubs instead.

To bring a little extra laughs to an un-bear-ably difficult week, we decided that pawing through twitter and finding you some funny bear tweets is the best way to do it. There's something about scary and dangerous animals doing funny and cute things that makes them extra hilarious. You just don't expect to see pictures of a bear in a hot tub. 

These funny bear tweets are basically guaranteed to put a big ol' smile on your face and make your day more bearable. If they're not enough, you can always take a look at these un-bear-ably funny bear memes. And for an ultimately good time, we hope you get the best bear hug from the person you most want it from this week.

Oh lawd, they comin'

Katmai National Park's annual competition of voting for your favorite chubby bear is back and voting has already begun! Which chubby cubby will win the title this year? 

Every Fall, the 'Fat Bear Week' competition takes place and it's a celebration in which the online community compares photos of bears in Spring and those same bears all chubbed up and getting ready for hibernation! The difference between the photos is often very obvious. And while it's a fun competition to take part in, it's truly all about these amazing bears, their survival, and how we're learning from them. 

For those who might consider this to be body shaming, it's actually all about body positivity. A bear needs to bulk up before winter, or else it won't survive. As the U.S. Department of the Interior says, "A fat bear is a healthy bear!" Bears can lose up to a third of their entire body fat as they hibernate. 

You can vote for your favorite chubby cubby here! And follow Katmai National Park on Twitter for all the updates! 

Yesterday, Matthew Bete was taking a nap by his pool when, out of nowhere, a black bear walked onto his property through a gate. The bear immediately heads for Matthew's pool, taking a long, long drink from it. He then turns around, spots Matthew, and quietly walks over to him, sniffing his foot and gently reaching out to touch it. Matthew, stirred by the touch, wakes up startled and scares the bear off. And what else does he do immediately after? Take his phone out to film it of course. Check out photos of the incident bellow! 

Bears. Beets. Battle Star Galactica. 

Okay, maybe just bears. However, bears might be the most interesting subject out of all three things listed above. Sorry to offend, beet lovers of the world. 

Bears are dangerous animals, but they're also one of the cutest animals around. Yes, if you encounter one out in the wild it would be downright terrifying but what is about these animals that make us drawn to them? It could be that they're obviously fluffy, or how funny they look when they're standing. Or, maybe it's just instilled into our minds at a young age when you get your first stuffed teddy bear. 

Also, there's the obvious fact that they hibernate for about 7 months, which just sounds like a dream for anyone of us. Ah, sleep, we love it so much.

Bear with us here while we dive into the wildest bear memes we found scattered across the web. 

National Park Service has been killing it on social media lately! And with a recent post on what to do and what NOT do in case of a bear encounter, people are taking notice just how comedic their social media really is. 

Not only do you learn something, but you also do so in a fun way.

So, who is the persona with the great sense of humor behind these posts? Matthew Turner. Matthew Turner is the voice behind the witty and funny captions that have captured the attention of so many. 

Keep us the amazing work, Matthew Turner! And if you're not doing so already, check out National Park Service on Facebook and Instagram! 

And learn what to do when coming across a bear! 

Nothing like the bond between a mother and her babies. 

Moms are always there to teach us everything we need to know about life and stand like a wall for us our entire life. 

And as you can see from these adorable pictures, bears are absolutely no different. 

We have compiled this un-bear-ably cute list featuring momma bears showing their cubs all about the bear necessities of life. 

Meet the adorable rescued baby black bear -- Casper! Casper was abandoned as a very young cub, thankfully the wonderful team at Black Bear Rescue Manitoba, Canada, rescued him and nourished him before his release back into the wild. 

When Casper was 1 month old, he was introduced to another rescued cub named Dudley. At first, Casper didn't want anything to do with Dudley but we're happy that didn't last too long because Caper and Dudley playing together is just the sweetest thing! 

It wasn't long before the pair became inseparable. Watch their story below! 

Story via Little But Fierce

Awweeee! Just when you think you've seen the cute of the cute, you stumble upon this wholesome comic series and it just punches you in the gut with mega-ultra-cuteness that you're left stunned for a minute. 

That's 'Milk and Mocha Bear'! The wholesome bear duo, Milk, what appears to be a polar bear and Mocha, a brown bear, are the best of friends and compliment each others personalities. When users asked the artist "why is milk so cute?" The artist responded, "I was born that way." And another user continued to ask, "why is the brown bear always sad or confused?" The artist wrote, "...I can get angry too."

The talented Indonesian artist obviously uses both Milk and Mocha to express themselves in a delightful form that charms thousands! 

Get ready for some mega cuteness! 

If it looks like a bear, walks like a bear, and talks like a bear then it's....a human?

Based on the following collection of photos, you'd never know these bears weren't humans in disguise. 

Take a look and see if you agree.

Meet Brandy! The most beautiful moon bear in the world! 

Brandy was rescued in 1999, by Free the Bears, when she was found clinging to a tree in Southern California, once a forested area that was converted to a palm oil plantation. Now Brandy currently resides at the Cambodia Bear Sanctuary, which is the world's largest sun bear sanctuary. And according to Free the Bears, Brandy is a gentle bear.

Brandy is a Golden moon bear, which is an extremely rare genetic color phase of moon bear. Whenever she emerges from the trees, you see a burst of golden yellow and because of her beautiful coloring, she is often mistaken for a lion! 

Sun bears and moon bears are both vulnerable species listed on the IUCN Red List. You can help by sponsoring Brandy or even become a Bear Carer, all for less than the usual cup of coffee per week!