Bijou, The Bear Handler (1877-1910)

Bijou was discovered by a Russian team of fortune seekers wading through the Amazon River. She was looking for her twin sister, who had disappeared several days before. The Russians, who had not seen any human for several miles, were hopeful that she could lead them to a guide who could take them to Toledo, the legendary lake of gold. They coaxed her into the boat with an offering of freshly caught fish and were at once startled by the jagged appearance of her teeth. One of the men, S. K. Karinova, felt that this young girl could be a human sub-species and brought her back to Moscow for study. When Karinova's theory was dismissed as folly, he sold Bijou to Valdi the Bear Handler.

Vladi was a remote but gentle man who raised her as his own and taught her the ancient art of Bear Handling. She took to it very well and by the age of 17 took over the Vladikov Bear Show as chief handler. Adding to her appearance as a performer were her magnificent teeth, which nearly matched the shape of the Norwegian Polar bears she worked with. Touted as Bijou, the girl who was part bear herself, she became the best known street act from St Petersburg to Kiev.

Years later, Sasha Almatscov, a young circus historian, discovered that Bijou's twin sister was on the other side of the Atlantic, working in the Del Ray Sideshow. Bijou sent a letter to her sister, written in her childish script, only 3 days before her premature and violent death. She wrote of the longed for possibility that one day she would reunite with Hanna-Piranha, however, this never came to pass, as on September 18th , 1910, Bijou was trampled to death by a herd of giraffe.