Mr Urge Bear 2007 Anton Cronje wowed the crowd at Southern HiBearnation in Melbourne but narrowly missed out on a title at the largest gathering of bears in the Southern Hemisphere. Cronje, originally from Zambia but now living in Auckland, competed in three rounds in his first-ever trip across the Tasman and was roared on by a large Kiwi contingent in the sell-out crowd at The Laird. “He was a star on the night,” said Urge bar co-owner Alan Granville. “He smiled and flirted with the crowd and was a great representative for Urge and New Zealand.” Cronje won Mr Urge Bear at the K' Rodd bar in March. There was some Kiwi success on the night as Nathan Little won Mr Southern HiBearnation Cub 2007. Little is originally from Thames but now lives in Adelaide. The overall winner of Mr Australasia Bear 2007 went to Queenland's Ray Simonsen. Meanwhile, Mr Urge Bear 2006 winner Damian Calleja stunned the crowd by giving back his winner's cheque from last year to a local HIV/AIDS charity. Calleja took out the overall title in Melbourne in 2006 and was awarded $1,000 as his prize, but decided to give back the money on the night. “It was completely unexpected,” said Granville. ”It just shows how much of a deserved winner he was last year.” Pictures of the event will appear soon on www.urgebar.co.nz. Ref: Urge (m)