Libearty Bear Sanctuary

The sanctuary above Zărnești was founded in 2005 after a campaign to rescue bears kept in tiny cages outside restaurants and hotels, and it has grown into one of the largest brown bear sanctuaries in the world, with dozens of hectares of oak forest divided into enclosures and more than a hundred bears living in them. The animals here cannot be released: most were taken as cubs, hand-reared, declawed or damaged in ways that make survival in the wild impossible, and the sanctuary is explicit that it exists to give them a decent remaining life rather than to rehabilitate them. Visits run as guided tours along a fixed route with viewing points over the enclosures, and the guides tell the individual histories, which are often grim. Bears are wild-living within the enclosures, so sightings depend on where the animals happen to be.

What you actually see

• Forest enclosures - large wooded areas where the bears roam.
• The guided route - fixed viewing points with commentary on individual animals.
• Rescue histories - the stories of where each bear came from.
• Pools and dens - facilities built for animals that never learned to be wild.

When to go

April to October. Bears are most active in the morning and around feeding times, and least visible in the heat of midday. Some go into winter dormancy, so late autumn and winter visits see far fewer animals. Tours must be booked ahead and run at set times.

Honest expectations

This is a sanctuary, not a zoo or a safari: viewing is from fixed points at a distance, the enclosures are large and wooded, and you may see only a handful of bears. Photography is difficult through the vegetation. The tour is emotionally heavy in parts. Booking ahead is genuinely necessary, and turning up on spec usually means being turned away.

Nearby

Piatra Craiului trails start in Zărnești; Bran Castle is a short drive east.