In the early first decade of the 21st century, the New Testament was being translated into the Ursari form of the Balkan Romani language.

The Romanian-speaking Roma bear or monkey handlers in Bulgaria, called mechkari ( мечкари ), maymunari, or ursari, are occasionally seen as a separate community or as a distinct part of the Boyash population, as are persons identified as Ursari in Italy.

Other such Eastern European groups, although linked by profession, speak different languages and dialects, and are not considered part of the Ursari ; they include the Medvedara in Greece, Ričkara in Slovakia, and Roma Ayjides in the Istanbul area of Turkey.

The Ursari formed part of the slave population in the Danubian Principalities ( Moldavia and Wallachia ) before the abolitions of the 1840s and 1850s.

Speaking during the late 1880s, the historian and politician Mihail Kogălniceanu, who was responsible for the 1855 abolition of slavery in Moldavia under Prince Grigore Alexandru Ghica, claimed that: " aside from the lăieşi Gypsies, who still live in part in Gypsy camps, and Ursari, who are presently working in the taming of wild beasts, but are nevertheless involved in working the land, almost all of the other classes of Gypsies have blended into the larger mass of the nation, and are only told apart by their swarthy and Asian-like faces and the vividness of their imagination ".

During the early stages of World War II, as part of the repressive measures ordered by the Iron Guard, the Minister of the Interior of the Romanian Legionary Government, Constantin Petrovicescu, passed an order preventing Ursari from performing with bears in cities, towns, or villages.

Over the following years, under Ion Antonescu's regime, members of the Ursari community were among the Roma people deported to Transnistria, as part of Romania's share in the Holocaust ( see also Romania during World War II and Porajmos ).

The latter custom was very popular among Romanians, who viewed it as a folk remedy for back pain ; welcoming Ursari into one's household to perform the task formed part of a string of events leading to the celebration of Easter, or part of customs ushering in Christmas and the New Years ' Eve.

It is especially known for using traditional rhythms employed by the Ursari section of the Roma minority with contemporary electronic sampling.

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-nomad occupational group of animal trainers among the Roma people.

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.

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 ).

With the Boyash ( including the gold-prospecting Zlătari ), the Kalderash, and groups of Roma smiths, Ursari formed the category of lăieşi, who, unlike vătraşi slaves, were allowed to carry on with a nomadic lifestyle ( being required by their boyar masters to pay various benefits in exchange for the permission ).

Like other nomadic Roma, Ursari are known to have traveled in large tribal groups during the 20th century, although other sources indicate that they preferred to organize themselves on a tight and selective family-based structure.

In the Netherlands, central authorities reacted vehemently to the presence of Roma, labeling Ursari and the others with the loaded term " Gypsies "; the reaction of local authorities was more calm, and allowed Ursari to blend into Dutch society, even though most members of the latter community intended to settle in other areas.

In Communist Romania, large groups of Ursari performers were prevented from entering cities, and, under both Gheorghe Gheorghiu-Dej and Nicolae Ceauşescu, nomadic Roma were subject to settlement policies ( many were reportedly resettled as early as their return from Transnistria ).

At the same time, criminal acts among the Ursari have been independently reported: among the Roma present in Bolintin Deal, the largely unemployed Ursari were not fully integrated ; it was indicated that houses of non-Ursari Roma were not targeted during the 1991 events, and that, of the 27 criminal files instrumented in Bolintin between 1989 and 1991, 18 implicated Ursari people ( with similar ratios in Ogrezeni ).

However, in Ogrezeni and Bolintin Vale, Police forces were themselves faced with violence from the mob, after allegations that they had vested interest in supporting the Roma community at large ; in Ogrezeni, 13 or 14 out of 15 Ursari houses were set on fire, and 11 were devastated in Bolintin Vale.

The Ursari are among the groups of Roma to practice endogamy, alongside the Kalderash, the Lovari and the Gabori ; many Mechkara believe refer to themselves as " Vlachs " or " Romanians ", and tend to consider themselves distinct from other Roma.

Ursari people and the Boyash-proper traditionally accompanied the Kalderash on their travels to Rumelia, contributing to the birth of the Mechkara community.

All members of the Ursari community in Bolintin Deal settled in either Bucharest or Giurgiu, many of them after selling their plots of land ; a group attempted to return in May 1991, but was chased away by the locals.

For the Ursari community at large, the rules upheld specifically prevent sexual contact with the gadjo and favor arranged marriages, but seem to have allowed for intermarriage inside the Boyash community at large.

Among the members of the Ursari community who manufactured objects of bone, it became widespread to treat the material with bear fat, a luxury good which, they believed, helped make the products in question more durable.

The word Ursari may also refer to a dialect of Balkan Romani, as spoken in Romania and Moldova, although it is estimated that most Ursari, like the Boyash, speak Romanian as their native language.

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.

While, ever since the 1850s, many Ursari musicians have contributed to Lăutari culture to the point where they have grown separated from their original environment, traditional Ursari music survived as a separate genre ; fused with electronic music, was popularized in early 21st century Romania by the Shukar Collective project.

Also during the late 19th century, the Ursari came to be attested in Imperial Russian-ruled Bessarabia, where the local population referred to them and to the lăieşi in general as şătraşi (" people living on campsites ").

Sometime after 1850, groups of Ursari, Kalderash and Lovari, most likely coming from Austro-Hungarian regions and Bosnia, moved westwards, and were mentioned for the first time as present in the North Brabant and other areas in the Netherlands ( where their descendants still live ).

The Ursari Romani people were specialized in bear training, although they sometimes also used Old World monkeys.

The arsons were carried out by large groups of local inhabitants, who, according to American author Isabel Fonseca, acted methodically ( they are alleged to have cut down the electrical wires leading to each Ursari house, so that the fire would be contained ).

It was reported that many Romanians in Bolintin Deal believed the Ursari were stealing property and even, in Fonseca's account, that they had been organizing photo ops for Ceauşescu.

Reportedly, authorities informed the Ursari that they had better to run away.

By 2005, several Ursari who had taken residence in Bucharest Sector 4 requested to be issued deeds for formerly state-owned land in Bolintin Deal, which was then being allocated to residents ; the local authorities denied their request, arguing that ownership of the land in question was still subject to dispute, and indicating that the Ursari could purchase other plots if they chose to do so.

Eastern Orthodox by tradition ( belonging to either the Romanian Orthodox or Bulgarian Orthodox churches ), many Ursari are adhering to Protestant movements such as Pentecostalism.

The Ursari in Serbia and Italy are members of the Serbian Orthodox Church.

Though much rarer, bear leading is still practiced by nomadic groups of Ursari in various areas of Eastern Europe.

Despite measures taken against bear training and busking, these remained popular in countries of the Bloc, and Ursari were a seasonal presence on the Black Sea Coast under the Bulgarian Communist regime.

The lăieşi were required to contribute an annual sum to the treasuries of Wallachia and Moldavia ; Édouard Antoine Thouvenel, a French diplomat who visited Wallachia during the period, indicated that, for Ursari families, this sum amounted to between twenty and thirty piasters, and it is documented that the Boyash and the Ursari paid equivalent fees.

Following the creation of a Romanian Principality, Ursari nonetheless remained a presence associated with busking and fairs, especially with those held in Bucharest and provincial cities such as Bacău.

A similar move originated in Serbia, around Kragujevac, with Boyash and Ursari moving into northern and central Italy.

In time, a significant number of Ursari joined circuses, while many others began manufacturing and trading bone objects and leather ( as, respectively, Pieptănari and Ciurari ), or associating with the Lăutari.

In April – June 1991, following the Revolution of 1989, Ursari in several localities of Romania's Giurgiu County — Bolintin Deal, Ogrezeni and Bolintin Vale — were the target of ethnic violence.

Ursari people were chased away, and many of their lodgings were burned to the ground.