City and zoo representatives announced on Thursday that the Bear ParkExternal link on the banks of the River Aare is to be extended to its originally intended size of 8,400 square metres. For cost reasons the enclosure – celebrating its tenth anniversary on Saturday – was reduced to 6,500 square metres, roughly the size of a football pitch.
Björk and the crowd look at each other at the Bern Bear Park on October 25, 2009
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Also on Thursday the Bern Animal Park DählhölzliExternal link just up the river said it wanted to breed bears again, after previous attempts partly failed dramatically. In addition, an area the size of seven football pitches will be devoted to bears in the Gantrisch Nature ParkExternal link. Cost estimates are not yet available for the facilities.
Bernd Schildger, director of the animal park, said many facilities were needed to keep the bear species going and bring it closer to people.
Today, three bears live in the bear park: male bear Finn (now sterilised), female bear Björk and their daughter Ursina. Another cub, Berna, was moved to another zoo because she and her mother clashed.
Ursina (left) and Finn splash around in the Bern Bear Park in June 2013
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Efforts to breed the bears Misha and Masha – a gift to Bern from former Russian President Dimitri Medvedev – ended in disaster in 2014. The male black grizzly Misha killed one of his sons by throwing him around in front of a shocked public. The other son was put to sleep a few days later, triggering a debate about rearing bears in captivity.
Sometimes it’s all just too much: Ursina (front) and Berna at the Bern Bear Park in August 2011
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Switzerland’s first bear sanctuary opens
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A 30,000-square metre bear sanctuary has been officially opened in Arosa, southeast Switzerland, and will be open to the public over the weekend.
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Berna and her sister Ursina were born in Bern’s bear park in December 2009 – to the surprise of the park authorities, who only became aware of their existence when they spotted extra movement on a webcam in their mother’s den. They soon became star attractions, but the park, aware that bears are usually rejected…
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Zoo authorities say they were left with no option after the second cub was rejected by its mother and the father showed intent to hurt it as well. The male black grizzly “Misha” killed his offspring on April 2 by throwing it up in the air repeatedly during a sort of game. Members of the…
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The births took place in December but the bear park authorities were not aware of what exactly was happening in mother Björk’s den until towards the end of January. A webcam that films the den offered little help to the bear park authorities. “The camera was really misted up and we couldn’t see much,” bear…
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The park opened to the public on Sunday, attracting thousands of visitors. swissinfo.ch went along ahead of the official opening to take a look. The week before the park opened, young and old residents and visitors to Bern were already lining up along the Nydegg Bridge to look down for signs of life in the…
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