New Zealand Bear titleholder, Damian Calleja, has walked off with the Australasian crown, becoming just the second Kiwi to do so. In a fiercely contested battle at The Laird in Melbourne, The 28-year-old building sales rep from Auckland triumphed over nine other competitors. Calleja competed before a capacity crow, fronting up for the three categories – Bear Casual, Bear Minimum and Bear Fantasy. Calleja won the first ever Mr Urge Bear 2006 title last month at Auckland's Urge Bar. With his new title of Mr Australasia Bear 2006, he will represent both New Zealand and Australia at Bear events in either the United States or the United Kingdom. Ref: GayNZ.com (d)