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See all of our Hansa Stuffed Animals at the index page.
The grizzly bear or silvertip bear is a variety of North American brown bear, with a great reputation for ferocity. Their scientific name is horribilis. The common name describes their silver-tipped fur color, which is grizzled. There is a folk etymology maintaining that "grizzly" comes from "grisly", which goes well with horribilis but is not linguistically correct. Grizzlies are probably not significantly more aggressive than other brown bears, but the average brown bear is capable of plenty of aggression.
Bears are opportunistic foragers, with excellent memories about where they have found food previously. Bears have no particular interest in people, but they have tremendous interest in food. One person who doesn't package their camping food properly can train bears that the campground is a great dining area, endangering future campers. A friend bicycle trekking in Canada said he was cautioned to rest at the bottom of steep hills to make sure he could manage good speed on the next uphill. Presumably bears had learned that tired cyclists near the top of a long grade were easy pushovers with packs full of food. Sounds like a Canadian tall tale to worry Americans, but it is a plausible yarn.
Grizzlies were exterminated in California, except as a symbol on the state flag, and nearly exterminated throughout North America. They are protected now and bear re-introduction programs such as Yellowstone are proceeding slowly. Bears do not breed rapidly, so their population cannot increase quickly. And bear introduction programs face serious concerns not only from farmers and ranchers but from park managers, public safety planners, campers and hikers. Human/bear interactions at close range are risky for all concerned.
Hansa produce an assortment of quality plush animal figures designed to capture each animal's beauty and character. Hansa use high-quality synthetic plush, often custom produced for their specific requirements of color, pattern and texture. The Hansa designers use complex cutting patterns with as many different plush variations as needed to get the right appearance for their animals. The fabrics are hand-cut to match each animal's design. Eyes, noses and paws are individually sewn to give each animal its realistic and individual appearance. Many of the animals get air-brushed accents to highlight body or facial details. Then the animals are hand-stuffed creating the unique poses and looks that are distinctively Hansa.
Hansa also make a series of life-size large animal plush which include a structural metal frame that is light-weight but capable of being "ridden" by children and even adults up to 250 pounds in weight. Stuffe & Nonsense cannot stock the large animals, but you can check their full collection at the Hansa Toys USA web site. If you see something interesting there, contact us and we can get it for you.
