History: Looking for Linden Bears - Updated February 9, 2022

Concierge Linden Bear at 1-World Village in Meiji West on the Old 'Teen Grid'. 

"NOW this is the next tale, and it tells how the residents of Second Life used to get Linden Bears.
In the beginning of Second Life, when the world was so new and all, and the residents and the Lindens were just beginning to build the world that became Second Life, the Lindens used to come down to Second Life and walk the land in avatar form. There were not that many residents, and what Lindens there were were eager to make this new world a success, so the Lindens set up office hours, and resident/Linden committees and work groups, and even set up houses in Linden Village so that they could foster good resident/Linden communications.
And some of the Lindens started to hand out bears that were unique to each Linden, and it became a thing to ask any Linden you saw for a bear, and there were also Linden Bears given out on special occasions, and residents started to collect them. And, Oh Best Beloved, I am told there were eventually over 169 different bears. "

I came to Second Life after it was already settled and in some ways it was like coming into a theater after the movie had started. Second Life had already existed for ten years when I arrived, and the population had grown. Generations of Lindens have come and gone, and Linden* sightings are rare, and Lindens-who-give-out-bears are even rarer.  I figure the odds of running into a live Linden in Second Life are about the same as running into the President when you are on a public tour of the White House, but hey, the Lindens and the President have more important things to do....

Still...I'm interested in history and I was intrigued by Ferd /Frederix's article on "How to Find and Get Linden Bears in Second Life" on www.outworldz.com. I followed his clues and found a few of my own Linden Bears.

White bear, bottom shelf right. 

I got Nichol Linden's prototype bear at the corner office in Linden Estate Services.

I found the Elle, Sejong Koala and Concierge Linden Bears in the 1-World Village in Meiji West. I also found a gift bag containing a free hippo avatar.

'ware hippos - but that's another story...

I found the Scottie Bear by Lynx Linden in Pooley.

I followed the clues from the white bear on the railing of Simon Linden's house in Denby and got a Simon Linden Bear (eventually).

Where's the bear from Soft Linden? I know he's around here somewhere.

Having run out of Ferd's clues I kept looking. I found bears from Kelly, Kyle, Dakota, Alexa and Skylar Linden on the Marketplace. 

In Rizal I played a "Claw" game and got a stuffed Mole toy and a shoulder teddy,

Shoulder bear - not really a Linden Bear, but still cute

and then at Pyri I clicked on some of the game booths and got a Pyri Mole/Mermaid

but after that I ran out of places to look. I asked in the forums if anyone had any clues on finding more Linden Bears, but I was told that "that ship has pretty much sailed." 

Winterfest 2009 Bear

Added:  Thank you to MangroveJane for pointing out the Winterfest 2009 Bear on the Alpine Trail in  Zermatt. I've also added that information to the notecard at the Tourist Information Center. 

Added 5-15-2019: I revisited this hunt and found another collectable Linden Bear by camming around the I-World Village. I also followed additional clues from the Footnotes at http://wiki.secondlife.com/wiki/Linden_Bear and didn't find any more. Still, it was fun to look, and I learned a bit more about Second Life History. Happy hunting!

Added 6-24-2021: "Bear Island" at the Second Life Birthday Party shows up every five years. The last time was at SL15B. Right now we are celebrating SL18B, so (if my math is correct) the next Bear Island should appear at SL20B.

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*Identifying Lindens:

1. Their name should be _______Linden
2. On their profile it should say "Linden Lab Employee"
3. If they chat with you, their text chat should be in blue.
4. If you meet a Linden one day and if the next time you see them they don't remember you, it could be because several Lindens were sharing a "Meta Linden"avatar  -that is - one avatar run by a team of different Lindens. Sort of like "Ronald McDonald".
5. Their title text, like their chat text, may be blue. I suspect there may be ways to game the system.

Because Linden sightings can cause sim crashes, it is more likely that Lindens who do come inworld these days come as alts, so they could be anywhere.

Addendum 7-8-2019: Well, it seems that as soon as I write about something in Second Life, everything changes. Both the Moles and the Lindens have been showing up inworld in greater number these days, and I have been fortunate enough to have seen quite a few of them. They are being generous of their time. I'm glad to be wrong. Thank you, Moles and Lindens!

Addendum 2-9-22.  Visited http://maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/Dechene/139/110/101 Claire Atheria's "Bear Castle" in Dechene.  She has put together a fabulous display of all kinds of bears, and she has a freebie dispenser offering over 50 more free bears!

Her notecard also directed me to find MORE free bears - including one you find by walking into a trash can in London City.  She also provided the clue so I could get the bear out of the safe at Melanthea Station!  

Addendum 6-24-24. This blog post was originally posted in November 2016 and altered when I got new information. It has always bothered me that folks might think I plagiarized Claire's Atheria's information card given out at the Bear Castle. I did not. Her work has gone above and beyond anything I have done; however, I have asked her if she got any information from my blog or posts that she would give me some credit.