Ursine prejudice

[LazarX]

Zmar wrote:

Bears are far from slow or clumsy

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aGLCZSiWr_I
www.youtube.com/watch?v=NgPUhWQxkZk

They are not too eager to move and don't look as determined as cats, but they can be just as deadly.

Then again, bears have been treed by ordinary house cats. Keep in mind that the small black bear that druids start with and habitates in places like New Jersey (yes Virginia, we DO have wild bears in the Garden State), is a far cry from the Kodiak grizzlies of the Great White North.

Please also note that the cat in question had been declawed.

[Detect Magic]

The current bear stats could represent smaller breeds, whereas a "large" version could be used to represent the grizzlies and such. Cats are already represented as such, with options aplenty for the druid to choose from. Why not so with bears?

[Akerlof]

I blame Yogi, though Boo Boo and Winnie aren't faultless either.

[blahpers]

Animal companions are not regular animals. They're weird animal-seeming creatures that happen to look like animals and have the animal subtype.

If bear companions offend you, check out T-Rex.

As for balance between the actual bestiary entries, I'd stat the nastier bear breeds as advanced template bears. They stack up reasonably well to big cats. I'd reserve advanced template big cat for the liger.