Libearty Bear Sanctuary Zarnesti, Brasov Romania
In 1998 a Romanian woman, Cristina Lapis, saw 3 bears in a small cage outside a restaurant in central Romania where they were used to attract customers. She later found more bears used in a similar way in other areas of the country. Her dream was to rescue these distressed animals and to change public attitudes to stop this cruel and illegal exploitation of one of Romania’s magnificent native animals.
Now that dream is being realised, with over 60 bears enjoying a new life in the Libearty Bear Sanctuary – 70 hectares of oak and hazel forest in the Carpathian Mountains above the Transylvanian town of Zarnesti.
Here, the bears climb trees, swim in the pools and forage on the vegetation. For many of them, having been caught from the wild as cubs, this is a new and stimulating experience.
Sanctuary Construction
The sanctuary construction started in 2005, and today there are over 60 rescued bears living in several large forested enclosures measuring around 66 acres (27 hectares) in total. These forested areas contain large fresh water pools, hibernation dens and hundreds of trees with lush natural vegetation.
A large central sanctuary building contains staff areas, storage and preparation areas for food for the bears, the veterinary clinic and a number of quarantine dens for new or sick bears. Although the bears feed on the vegetation, nuts and berries available in the forest they do need additional food and the sanctuary staff distribute over a tonne of fruit and vegetables a day around the sanctuary enclosures.
School Visits and Wildlife Awareness
Schools throughout Romania now send classes of children to the sanctuary to learn about the bears and about wildlife protection in general. The sight of bears climbing trees, playing in the water pools or just lazing in the meadows, gives the children a far better understanding of the true nature of the animals than any concrete zoo could ever do.
It is hoped that future donations will allow an education centre to be developed near to the sanctuary to encourage further studies into wildlife protection and animal welfare, and to develop more outreach education programmes in Romania.
Do you want to visit Libearty Bear Sanctuary Zarnesti, Brasov Romania ?
The Libearty bear sanctuary – based in the oak forests above the town of Zarnesti in central Transylvania is now open to visitors. They have guides to show round groups of visitors on a daily basis and you can see the rescued bears enjoying life in the forested sanctuary areas.
But if you want to make a visit you first have to contact the Romanian bear sanctuary office which is based in Brasov. Tell them when you want to visit – and give them at least a few days’ notice to be sure they have space for you in their daily tour. (bearsanctuary.com)
Their contact details are:
email: apamp@clicknet.ro Phone: +40 268 471 202
(Video) Have you ever seen a bear hibernating?