Do Not Feed The Bears! - Footpath near the A4085, North Wales, UK
Posted by: 
Dragontree
N 53° 03.824 W 004° 08.300
30U E 423720 N 5879965
Please do not feed the bears in the forest!
Waymark Code: WMA186
Location: North Wales, United Kingdom
Date Posted: 10/30/2010
Views: 12
Is this a secret in the forests of Wales? Have bears made a comeback? Bears inhabited the British Isles until the 10th century so this sign is very unusual or we have walked into a time warp. Whatever you do tread carefully and be quiet in the forest, you never know what awaits you!
This sign is in the ironic, sarcastic humour of the British. It is unusual because there are no bears in the British Isles and there haven't been since they were wiped out in the 10th Century. Whilst this sign is common in countries where there are bears; this country does not have bears in the wild, only in captivity. This area is a naturally wild forest area in Wales where bears once would have roamed before the 10th century, many, many years ago. Therefore the unusual nature of the sign lies in the humour (tongue-in-cheek nature if you will), that comes into the imagination of the farmer and the rambler. BUT, there are no bears really.
The BBC article details the reintroductions of previously extinct wildlife to the country:
visit link
'It would be difficult for people to argue against the reintroduction of beautiful butterflies or adorable amphibians but the mere mention of certain animals sets light to the touch paper of debate. How would you feel about lynx, wolves or even bears repopulating Scottish uplands? Would they be a welcome addition for wildlife tourism, a step forward in restoring what we once destroyed or a potentially dangerous waste of money?'
As you can see from reading this article bears are not present in this country. The blog is an opinion poll on whether people would like wolves or bears reintroduced into the wild or not and the potentially dangerous consequences if they were. It also specifically mentions the Scottish uplands as the potential (long way off) reintroduction area. This sign is in North Wales (a different country within the British Isles), many miles away.