For dozens of years, bears were forced to perform in a frame of festivals, circus shows or even private events in France. These animals were paraded by their owners – the so-called 'montreur d’ours' – on a rope or chain several hours per day and were made to perform tricks in front of an audience.

From an animal welfare point of view, these kinds of shows are neither of educational nor artistic value. The animals are forced to travel with their owners for almost the whole year while being confined in cages or chained in the back of the vehicle. While during the shows, the bears are repeatedly being made to do non-natural tricks such as, e.g. balancing on balls, jumping through tyres or made to 'wrestle' with their trainers or interact with the audience by force.

As a result, some of the bears suffer from mental and physical diseases (e.g. arthrosis, disorders of the spine, etc.). Besides, these shows are a danger to the safety of the public. Often people are invited by the bear owners during the shows to come close, touch and feed the bears, while the bear is muzzled and held on a leash, or being kept behind a simple wire only. 

In 2019, and together with the French NGOs AVES France and Fondation Brigitte Bardot, FOUR PAWS demanded an end of the sad 'montreur d’ours' tradition and offered to rescue the #SaddestBears of France. The initiative proved successful – in the same year the prior French Minister of the Ecological and Solidary Transition, Elisabeth Borne, promised to improve the welfare of captive wildlife in France.

Finally, in November 2021, and encouraged by several animal welfare organisations, the French Parliament approved a new animal welfare bill which bans the training and use of bears and wolves for entertainment and show purposes as of end of 2023. Furthermore, a general ban on the use of wild animals in travelling circuses will become effective from December 2028, and the breeding and new aqusition of wild animals in circuses is banned from December 2023.