Russia's first lady Svetlana Medvedeva (left) presented Bern's mayor, Alexander Tschäppät, with two bear cubs during a state visit by Russian President Dmitri Medvedev in September. (Keystone/Marcel Bieri)
Keystone
The cubs Mischa und Mascha from Siberia have already become an attraction. (Keystone/Marcel Bieri)
Keystone
The city's senior bears, Björk and Finn, have moved from the local zoo to the new park. (baerenpark-bern.ch)
Making waves: One of the bears checks out its new home. (baerenpark-bern.ch)
The River Aare will still be safe to swim in, since the bears' new pool is sealed off from the watercourse. (Keystone/Peter Schneider)
Keystone
Like the new Bear Park in 2010, the Bear Pit met the standards of its day (pictured here in 1880) and public expectations. (Wikipedia/History Museum Bern)
A young bear from Turkey arrives at Zurich airport in 1956, from where it was taken to Bern. (RDB/ATP/Pichler)
RDB
A bearkeeper with cubs in 1979. (RDB/Siegfried Kuhn)
RDB
Nursing young cubs born to Lotti and Ursula in 1969. (RDB/Siegfried Kuhn)
RDB
In 1966, West Berlin's mayor Willy Brandt presented Bern with a bear to thank it for allowing hundreds of Berlin children to holiday in the Swiss capital. (RDB/Siegfried Kuhn)
RDB
Pedro plays up for the crowd. (Keystone/Peter Klaunzer)
Keystone
Watch your step: a tightrope walker of the Swiss Circus Knie performs his act above the pit and its hungry inhabitants in 1968. (RDB/Siegfried Kuhn)
RDB
Bearkeeper Emil Hänni feeds his favourite bruin, Fredi, in 2002. (Keystone/Lukas Lehmann)
Keystone
Activists from Animal Peace demand the "liberation" of the bears in 1998. (Keystone/Jürg Müller)
Keystone
Pretending: The public was provided with access to the space for a couple of weeks before the opening of the Bear Park. The pit's last resident, Pedro, died earlier this year. (Keystone/Lukas Lehmann)
Keystone
Bern's bears have a new home. The city's Bear Park is much roomier than the traditional Bear Pit.
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Bears have been living in the Bear Pit – a top city attraction – since 1857. But the enclosure was long criticised by animal rights activists. As of October 25, the city’s bears have more space to roam in the adjacent Bear Park. It measures over 10,000sqm.
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