Recently I visited a central Europe’s only Bear Sanctuary which is in Veresegyhaz, a town on the outskirts of Budapest. I was able to see several species of bears that were, unfortunately not anymore, common in central Europe. Among them were the grizzly and brown bears. People were able to put honey on long wooden spoons and have the bears lick it clean. The sanctuary had 39 bears total of varying sizes, from fuzzy cubs to lumbering, furry behemoths.The Bear Sanctuary also had 2 smaller areas designated to Wolves and Deer, also once common animals from the thick, green forests of Europe. It was fascinating to see the ancient ancestor of the modern domesticated dog and observe how it lives. For example, they howled often and lived in burrow systems in the ground. Coming from Pennsylvania, where the deer population is outrageously high, seeing deer wasn’t new. But nonetheless they represent the animals of the European wild and were still cute. Overall, it was a visit full of “oohs”, “ahhs”, and “isnt that cute!” that gave me a good picture of the central European wildlife. bear park 047.AVIbear park 048.AVI

Location: 2112 Veresegyház, Patak utca 39