© 22427496@N08 / flickr
You may not expect to see a host of bears at Copacabana Beach in Rio de Janeiro. However, that is what you will get on this world famous stretch for the next few months. A host of 145 bears are lined up and down the promenade, each one representing a different country. There is hardly any guessing which country Liberty, above, represents!
© 22427496@N08 / flickr
Organized by the German Consulate in Rio, the buddy bears promote living together in peace and harmony on their global tour – their paws held high in the hope of world peace. Since the tour began over a decade ago the bears have raised millions for children in need around the globe. Although each bear represents a country it is the people and the culture that it embodies rather than the political system. The one for North Korea,
above , is hardly what one might expect if the former was the case, especially considering the regimes recent comments about the USA’s President Obama.
Can you spot your own country? Here is a great slide show by Flickr User
GloveBR2008 ’s photostream. All of the bears are gorgeous, of course, but I have to admit to a soft spot for that of Ireland as well as that from Egypt – the leprechaun bear and the pharaoh bear respectively.