Bear necessities

BBC2, 9pm

We humAns are pretty obsessed with bears, it turns out. And it seems like it starts quite young, almost subliminally.

Our first toys as babies are teddies, there are fairy tales like Goldilocks and the Three Bears, and they’re all over our books and cartoons – Winnie the Pooh, Baloo, Rupert, Yogi, Bungle and Paddington.

They’re everywhere and they’re all cuddly and lovable. Whoever does the PR for bears is doing a great job. So this documentary seems almost superfluous, but it’s also the perfect excuse to show these remarkable animals in action and make us fall in love all over again. And to teach us a load of fascinating facts.

For example, there are actually only eight species of bear, but their huge and vastly different habitats means they’re spread out all over the globe.

From the polar bears who roam the frozen north to the spectacled bears of sub-tropical South America, the grizzly brown bears of North American forests to the Asiatic mountain bears, or giant pandas who chew bamboo in China.

These guys are seriously diverse and have also undergone some quite impressive adaptations to enable them to live and thrive in these often extreme conditions. Plus they’re really very cute – especially the cubs – although the mama sloth bear who has her three wee ones hanging off her probably doesn’t think that.

But when you’ve got a tiger or a leopard on your tail and you’re too small to defend yourself, what else are you gonna do?