Why do they portrait Russia as a bear in all Russia-Georgia cartoons?

Question

Is it the symbol of Russia? why?

Answer 1

I thought I'd be able to find a better source but I failed, so...

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Russian_Bea...

My personal thoughts:

Don't wake the bear that sleeps, is something I've heard a lot as a child. Often meant as don't stir up any problems with your neighbors, they might be more than you can handle. The CCCP was one of those neighbors. Bears as cute as they might be are also predators and the CCCP was seemingly calm most of the time, but showed their "predatory" side now and then by invading other countries and so on. My teachers also pointed to the resemblance of the CCCP and a bear on the map, but I failed to see it.