The animal itself
Bears lose up to 30% of body weight in hibernation without losing muscle mass or bone density, which is why the mechanism is studied for spaceflight and for treating osteoporosis.1 of 2 calendars · 1,970 searches a month
Bear
The bear is read as practical strength held in reserve. It appears in one of the two birth calendars we cover. The two are presented online as interchangeable, yet they name the same animal on only 17 days of 365 — 4.7% of the year.
Which calendar assigns it, and when
Native American calendar
22 August – 21 September
Its zodiac sign
Virgo
Only the Native American calendar assigns this one. Anyone born in these dates gets a different animal from the other system — the two agree on 4.7% of days →
What it stands for, and where that came from
Practical strength held in reserve — force that does not need to be shown.
Honoured in: Finnish and Sami traditions treated the bear as sacred enough that its real name was avoided; Artemis and the constellation Ursa Major.
Counted across all 39 animals
Where the bear sits
22/39
animals here carry a birth-date range. The other 17 are symbols
people choose, not ones a date assigns.
4.7%
of the year — 17 days out of 365 —
is where the two calendars name the same animal. The rest of the time they
disagree.
6th
most looked-up of the 39 animals we cover.
Both calendars are published online as though interchangeable. They are not, and the disagreement is the reason two sites can give you different animals for the same birthday. How the two calendars differ →
Searched about as often
Bear is ranked 6 of 39 by search demand. Of all 39 animals here, 22 sit in one of the two birth-date calendars and 17 are searched as symbols only.