Ursari

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The Ursari (generally read as "bear leaders" or "bear handlers"; from the Romanian: urs, meaning "bear"; singular: ursar; Bulgarian: урсари, ursari) or Richinara are the traditionally nomadic occupational group of animal trainers among the Romani people.

An endogamous category originally drawing the bulk of its income from busking performances in which they used dancing bears, usually brown bears and, in several instances, Old world monkeys. They have largely become settled after the 1850s. The Ursari form an important part of the Roma community in Romania, where they are one of the 40 tribal groups,^[1] as well as notable segments of the Bulgarian Roma population and of the one in Moldova. They also form a sizable part of the Roma present in Serbia and in Western European countries such as the Netherlands and Italy.

The word Ursari may also refer to a dialect of Balkan Romani, as spoken in Romania and Moldova,^[2][3] although it is estimated that most Ursari, like the Boyash, speak Romanian as their native language.^[4] There is no scholarly consensus on whether Ursari belong to the Sinti subgroup of the Roma people or to the other half of the Roma population.^[5] A Romanian poll conducted in 2004 among 347 Roma found that 150 referred to themselves as "Ursari" (or 43.2%, and the largest single group).^[6]

The Romanian-speaking Roma bear or monkey handlers in Bulgaria, called mechkari (мечкари), maymunari, or ursari, are occasionally seen as a separate community^[3] or as a distinct part of the Boyash population,^[7] as are persons identified as Ursari in Italy.^[8] The Coşniţari (or koshnichari) group, present on both sides of the Danube (in both Romania and Bulgaria), is believed to be a segment of the Ursari.^[9] Other such Eastern European groups, although linked by profession, speak different languages and dialects, and are considered to be not a part of the Ursari; they include the Medvedara in Greece, Ričkara in Slovakia, The Muslim Arixhinj in Albania and the Muslim Ayjides in the Istanbul area of Turkey.^[10]