# Are pooh bears real??
**URL:** https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-pooh-bears-real/510289
**Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share
**Created:** [September 16, 2009, 5:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-pooh-bears-real/510289 "2009-09-16T05:32:31Z")
**Posts on this page:** 20
**Page:** 1
### Author:  [@toastin131](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/toastin131)
#### Post date: [September 16, 2009, 5:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-pooh-bears-real/510289/1 "2009-09-16T05:32:31Z")
already emailed this to Cecil, not knowing about the message board! Maybe you guys can help me too…
Is there such a species as a “pooh bear”? If not, what could possibly possess someone to believe they are real?? Is there a real bear with a similar name??
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### Author:  [@Covered\_In\_Bees](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Covered_In_Bees)
#### Post date: [September 16, 2009, 5:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-pooh-bears-real/510289/2 "2009-09-16T05:36:22Z")
> [@toastin131](#):
>
> already emailed this to Cecil, not knowing about the message board! Maybe you guys can help me too..
>
> Is there such a species as a “pooh bear”? If not, what could possibly possess someone to believe they are real?? Is there a real bear with a similar name??
There is a fictional bear named [Winnie the Pooh](http://disney.go.com/pooh/index.html) (Lots of flash and sound in link). Perhaps that answers your last two questions. The answer to your first question is no.
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### Author:  [@UDS](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/UDS)
#### Post date: [September 16, 2009, 6:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-pooh-bears-real/510289/3 "2009-09-16T06:17:10Z")
> [@toastin131](#):
>
> already emailed this to Cecil, not knowing about the message board! Maybe you guys can help me too..
>
> Is there such a species as a “pooh bear”? If not, what could possibly possess someone to believe they are real?? Is there a real bear with a similar name??
What makes you think anybody believes they are real?
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### Author:  [@toastin131](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/toastin131)
#### Post date: [September 16, 2009, 6:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-pooh-bears-real/510289/4 "2009-09-16T06:19:08Z")
my friend thinks that they are a real species and will not accept our insistence otherwise…
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### Author:  [@Captain\_Awesome](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Captain_Awesome)
#### Post date: [September 16, 2009, 6:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-pooh-bears-real/510289/5 "2009-09-16T06:21:35Z")
There was a real [pooh bear](http://stickersanddonuts.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/05/the-real-winnie-the-pooh.jpg), before it was bastardised by Disney.
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### Author:  [@panache45](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/panache45)
#### Post date: [September 16, 2009, 7:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-pooh-bears-real/510289/6 "2009-09-16T07:07:01Z")
If you’re referring to the stuffed bears sold in toy shops . . . well yes, they exist and are real, in the sense that they are actual matter.
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### Author:  [@Rayne\_Man](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rayne_Man)
#### Post date: [September 16, 2009, 7:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-pooh-bears-real/510289/7 "2009-09-16T07:09:47Z")
> [@Captain\_Awesome](#):
>
> There was a real [pooh bear](http://stickersanddonuts.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/05/the-real-winnie-the-pooh.jpg), before it was bastardised by Disney.
And given that horrible American accent.
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### Author:  [@Richard\_Pearse](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Richard_Pearse)
#### Post date: [September 16, 2009, 7:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-pooh-bears-real/510289/8 "2009-09-16T07:19:17Z")
Isn’t Winnie the Pooh a Honey Bear?
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### Author:  [@Rigamarole](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rigamarole)
#### Post date: [September 16, 2009, 7:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-pooh-bears-real/510289/9 "2009-09-16T07:32:07Z")
Related question: can tigers actually bounce up and down on their tails?
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### Author:  [@Richard\_Pearse](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Richard_Pearse)
#### Post date: [September 16, 2009, 8:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-pooh-bears-real/510289/10 "2009-09-16T08:09:56Z")
Looks like [Winnie the Pooh](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Winnie-the-Pooh) was named after [a black bear named Winnipeg](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Winnipeg_bear) who was at the London Zoo from 1915 to 1934.
> [@wikipedia](#):
>
> Milne named the character Winnie-the-Pooh after a teddy bear owned by his son, Christopher Robin Milne, who was the basis for the character Christopher Robin.
>
> …
>
> Christopher Milne had named his toy bear after Winnie, a bear which he often saw at London Zoo, and “Pooh”, a swan they had met while on holiday.
> [@Wikipedia](#):
>
> Winnipeg (or “Winnie”) was the name given to a female black bear that lived at London Zoo from 1915 until her death in 1934.
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### Author:  [@TWDuke](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TWDuke)
#### Post date: [September 16, 2009, 8:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-pooh-bears-real/510289/11 "2009-09-16T08:36:49Z")
> [@Rigamarole](#):
>
> Related question: can tigers actually bounce up and down on their tails?
No, _Tiggers_ can, but there’s only one.
Winnie says [hi](http://www.npg.org.uk/collections/search/largerimage.php?LinkID=mp09399&page=1&role=sit&rNo=1).
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### Author:  [@Floater](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Floater)
#### Post date: [September 16, 2009, 9:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-pooh-bears-real/510289/12 "2009-09-16T09:21:09Z")
> [@Covered\_In\_Bees](#):
>
> There is a fictional bear named [Winnie the Pooh](http://disney.go.com/pooh/index.html) (Lots of flash and sound in link). Perhaps that answers your last two questions. The answer to your first question is no.
But he lives under the name of Sanders.
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### Author:  [@Bam\_Boo\_Gut](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bam_Boo_Gut)
#### Post date: [September 16, 2009, 11:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-pooh-bears-real/510289/13 "2009-09-16T11:01:15Z")
[quote=“1920s Style “Death Ray”, post:8, topic:510289”]
Isn’t Winnie the Pooh a Honey Bear?
[/QUOTE]
… and related to the more reclusive marmalade-sandwich-under-the-hat bear:
> **[Paddington Store](https://store.paddington.com)**
>
> Welcome to the Official Paddington Store, the online destination for Paddington fans of all ages! Discover the complete range of plush, books, gifts, collectables and online exclusives Paddington products. Sign up to receive special offers and learn...
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### Author:  [@racer72](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/racer72)
#### Post date: [September 16, 2009, 11:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-pooh-bears-real/510289/14 "2009-09-16T11:30:34Z")
What is the species of bear that wanders around national parks wearing a hat and tie? It has a habit of stealing picnic baskets.
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### Author:  [@Harmonious\_Discord](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Harmonious_Discord)
#### Post date: [September 16, 2009, 11:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-pooh-bears-real/510289/15 "2009-09-16T11:53:23Z")
This is what happens when children stay home watching cartoons and never go to a woods for hikes. They grow up thinking cartoon characters are actual species.
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### Author:  [@DrFidelius](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrFidelius)
#### Post date: [September 16, 2009, 11:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-pooh-bears-real/510289/16 "2009-09-16T11:55:31Z")
> [@toastin131](#):
>
> already emailed this to Cecil, not knowing about the message board! Maybe you guys can help me too..
>
> Is there such a species as a “pooh bear”? If not, what could possibly possess someone to believe they are real?? Is there a real bear with a similar name??
Perhaps they are confused with the Australian Drop Bear.
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### Author:  [@Peter\_Morris](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Peter_Morris)
#### Post date: [September 16, 2009, 11:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-pooh-bears-real/510289/17 "2009-09-16T11:57:06Z")
> [@toastin131](#):
>
> my friend thinks that they are a real species and will not accept our insistence otherwise..
He may be thinking of [drop bears](http://www.geocities.com/muirnin/db.htm).
edit - simulpost.
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### Author:  [@Martiju](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Martiju)
#### Post date: [September 16, 2009, 11:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-pooh-bears-real/510289/18 "2009-09-16T11:59:18Z")
Maybe he’s getting confused with drop bears - an antipodean species…?
Heh
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### Author:  [@Captain\_Awesome](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Captain_Awesome)
#### Post date: [September 16, 2009, 12:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-pooh-bears-real/510289/19 "2009-09-16T12:10:32Z")
> [@racer72](#):
>
> What is the species of bear that wanders around national parks wearing a hat and tie? It has a habit of stealing picnic baskets.
Since Yogi is well skilled in bipedalism and is smarter than the average bear, it’s likely that he is a grizzly, since black bears have a smaller brain size and are less adept at walking upright.
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### Author:  [@Lemur866](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lemur866)
#### Post date: [September 16, 2009, 2:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-pooh-bears-real/510289/20 "2009-09-16T14:12:58Z")
\*Thylacoleo carnifex \* is an extinct species of marsupial carnivore that fits the description of a drop bear in every particular.
> **[Thylacoleo](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thylacoleo)**
>
> Thylacoleo ("pouch lion") is an extinct genus of carnivorous marsupials that lived in Australia from the late Pliocene to the late Pleistocene (2 million to 46 thousand years ago). Some of these marsupial lions were the largest mammalian predators in Australia of their time, with Thylacoleo carnifex approaching the weight of a lioness. The estimated average weight for the species ranges from 101 to 130 kg (223 to 287 lb).
> The genus was first published in 1859, erected to describe the type spec...
> **[Thylacoleo carnifex, ancient Australia’s marsupial lion](https://laelaps.wordpress.com/2007/08/31/thylacoleo-carnifex-ancient-australias-marsupial-lion/)**
>
> My home state of New Jersey is the epitome of suburban sprawl, McMansions and cul de sacs being about as common as the White-Tailed Deer that take advantage of the grass and brush on the side of th…
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