BEAR is a semi-educated, 500-pound wilderness philosopher who is passionate about bear safety education. As a bear, he is exceptionally plugged into bear culture. He has been managing Backpacker’s Ask a Bear column since 2017. He believes he mostly got this job because he is literate, and literate bears are hard to come by, but he doesn’t mind a low bar. BEAR would like to add that he is very handsome and that his favorite food is trash.