BEAR SANCTUARY Müritz - a FOUR PAWS project
A natural habitat for rescued brown bears
Revert to the natural instincts
Bears which have been in captivity cannot be reintroduced to the wild. They become dependent on humans and would not survive in the wilderness. Many of the bears were previously held under extremely poor conditions and thus developed severe behavioural disturbances.
The BEAR SANCTUARY Müritz offers an alternative for such bears. They can revert to their animal instincts and enjoy their natural behavioural patterns. They can roam around the enclosure, withdraw to be in seclusion, excavate caverns and hollows, bathe in the pond or also rediscover their natural winter state of semi-hibernation.
Natural habitat
The size and structure of our bear protection centre provides the animals with an ideal environment for their needs; they can fulfill their urge to wander, withdraw into their own space, dig out dens and go into a state of hibernation.
The ponds allow for intensive bathing and coat-care; bears adore water! Furthermore, the animal caretakers provide the bears with a whole host of opportunities to live out their natural instinctive behaviour. Carefully chosen objects occupy the bears and stimulate their natural playfulness and curiosity.
Luna enjoys climbing the trees in her enclosure.
Professional care
Wildlife-friendly feeding: In the natural order of things a bear spends the majority of his time searching for food; We strive to recreate these circumstances within the sanctuary. The keepers hide the feed in enclosures and constantly develop new techniques to occupy the bears. Challenging feeding games stimulate the intelligence and instinctive skills of the bears, for example balls filled with feed are placed in wheels and can only be freed with patience and animal logic.
Experienced keepers and specialst veterinarians for wild animals look after the bears on an individual basis so that they can recover from their specific health issues and behavioural sterotypes. The behaviour of the bear is observed and documented. FOUR PAWS works in close co-operation with scientific bodies and universities which are committed to our projects.
Upon handing over the bears to the FOUR PAWS organization, the former keepers commit themselves to not keeping or purchasing bears in the future.
We do not breed bears in our bear sanctuaries; all male animals are castrated.
