I'll bet the bear was not in the circus from personal choice, and was not well treated. I have read many stories of the mistreatment of circus bears.

Agreed, farmerbee. The treatment of bears by Russians is notorious. Sad event? Yes. Unexpected, and perhaps not undeserved? No.

Poor bear. When will we ever learn to leave them in their natural habitat?

I really wish everyone would stop going to these circus events and supporting these horrible people that mistreat these poor animals and make them do things they are not meant to do and do not want to do!!! I agree with whoever said, Kudos to the bear for getting rid of one more circus idiot!! It's such a shame and makes me SICK for those poor animals! And then the poor thing was shot to death! :( Those people deserve to be tortured just like they torture those poor animals!!

not right for a freakin bear to be asked to ice skate and then shot dead when he attacs his trainer

As Chris Rock once joked. They said the tiger went crazy and attacked the trainer. That's not crazy. That's a tiger being a tiger. what is crazy is having a tiger ride a tricycle!

the notes from the poster of the note were: "this will raise questions about whether it's appropriate to use animals that way, because it can put humans at terrible risk."

I would guess this guy has spent the last century burried under sand, these cases occur rather often, so, wheter it´s appropiate or not is not a new topic, of course it is not appropiate but not because of the danger to humans, but for the life to which a poor animal in sentenced, the harm inflicted to a human by a animal is nothing but a consequence of the treatment they are given.
What would you do to a guy who for no reason at all, does not feed you well, who keeps you in a cage, who hits you frequently and who forces you to perform stunts that are not natural to you?

STOP CRUELTY TO ANIMALS/ BEARS!!!!"circus bear"??? Forcing DEFENSLES animals to perform after spending their life in cages, chained and abused suppose to be forbidden!
Such acts suppose to be treated as condition to improvements of Human Rights.
HUMAN RIGHTS MUST GO TOGETHER ALONG WITH ANIMAL RIGHTS!

I hate to say it but, I'm not in the least surprised at this event and my initial, and somewhat immature thought was "go bear". The trainer chose to do this, and accepted the risks associated with working with these animals....the bear most certainly did not. I am against any act that incorporates animals that are meant to be wild.

Bear 1 human 0. Go Bear!!!!!

I don't feel sorry for the trainer - it is unatural to take a wild animal from his habitat, force it to perform, and not allow it to do what comes naturally. I guess the bear finally had enough and snapped! Even humans snap when not given rest & recreation. The bear is in a better place. Boycott circus with animals.

This is so sad FOR THE BEAR!!!!! The ignorant human made the choice to force this beautiful animal to perform un-natural acts against its will and got what he deserved! Circuses around the world need to be stopped.....they are heartless, cruel and abusive. They use and abuse these animals for financial gain and make their show look "fun" and "entertaining".....when all it is, is abuse and mistreatment! Laws to protect animals desperately need to be updated and changed to protect the rights of all these defenseless creatures!!!

fukin deserve to die..... Dont mess with a fuckin bear... But i do hope tht he goes to heaven though,so he can play with friendly bear ;)

They asked for it and got it! Trying to make money off the misery of animals forced to do things foreign to their nature.....what do you expect? Its a greedy business (circuses) which
does not care about suffering of these animals and
failed to take care of them properly. People too
lazy to use their own skills to earn a living rather than through ridiculous training of wild
animals to do something so unnatural to them
causing nothing but stress and humilation!!! And
charge people to come see this inhumanely treatment......its outrageous!!! Do not patronize
these people! It prolongs the suffering of these
innocent animals!!! That is not entertainment!!!

Well I say the stupid guy deserved it. For years people have used animals for entertainment. It is not natural to them at anytime. If God wanted this bear to ice skate he would have made his feet blades. I say put the animals back where they belong. Don't mess with Mother Nature, you will not like the outcome.

I have known a number of circus performers (in the USA) who were never cruel nor mistreated the animals under their care. Kindly avoid classifying all show folk by the actions of a few.

well like some people say mess with a wild animal you suffer the consequences people should leave animals in the wild where they belong

it makes me happy to see that about 100 percent of people support the bear in this case, and that the world knows what happened to that guy and they dont care he's dead cause he never cared about the bear. the people at that particular circus got to see a memorable show lol!!

well, the poor bear is now out of his misery and at peace looking down at us...and i guess his trainer is where he belongs...way down below!!!!

I too feel sorry because I have seen many stories about the horrible treatment of animals in Russia. I can just imagine the abuse the bear endured and to have lived his life roller skating--just what a bear would want to be doing with his life.

That person got what he was looking for. A bear should be free in the forest,not ice skating, forced to perform, stressed and humiliated. How sad that the poor bear was shot to death after the abuse he had to endure!
Circus animals are tortured and suffer. People week up and DO NOT pay anyone who force animals to perform stunts!!! That is not entertainment, it is abuse.

it makes me happy to see that about 100 percent of people support the bear in this case, and that the world knows what happened to that guy and they dont care he's dead cause he never cared about the bear. the people at that particular circus got to see a memorable show lol!!