Family volunteering with bears in Romania

Historically, you could go into zoos, hotels and even restaurants across Romania and see bears in captivity. Libearty Bear Sanctuary was founded to rescue such bears. It is supported by World Animal Protection and is Europe’s largest bear sanctuary. It now has over 100 bears in its care and has begun rescuing animals from the Ukraine and Russia, too.

Since Romania joined the European Union in 2007, bears have had better treatment. Shooting them has been illegal since 2016. But attitudes are slower to shift. As the bear population rises in the wild, bears are portrayed as fearsome, and the national press quick to publish stories about corresponding rises in bear attacks.

Sanctuaries not only look after the bears, but rehabilitate their image too. Libearty has donated teddy bears to its local orphanage, and welcomes visitors over the age of five to visit the sanctuary – and over the age of 10 to volunteer. “Through the educational side of things the younger generation in Romania are becoming a little bit more understanding of bears and more sensitive to them,” says Anne. She recommends doing a feeding tour. “The bears literally come rippling out of the forest from nowhere, you can see 20-30 at a time.”

One of the biggest tasks is food preparation – a single bear can eat 10kg of food a day, and there are 104 bears at the sanctuary. Childish excitement is very welcome. “Adults might be less enthusiastic about sorting through food,” agrees Anne. Moved by the bears’ sad stories, kids are even quicker than adults to get stuck in with messy tasks. “Their kids lead them in with their enthusiasm for the work that they do, and the fact that it supports the hundred or so bears at the sanctuary,” says Anne.

Once you get used to the work, you really love it. Rhiannon Lewis travelled to Libearty in 2019 with her husband and three teenage children. “Every day was different at the sanctuary,” she said “We all really enjoyed it – it was one of the best vacations we’ve done.”

Anne agrees. “We’ve had quite a few families do it a second time.” She herself is a repeat visitor to Libearty, first volunteering there a decade ago. Since then, every time she returns she sees bears she knows, still doing well.

The project runs throughout the year, but the most popular time for volunteering trips is June to September. The summer vacations will be warm, but there will be rainy days. If you go in spring and autumn, be prepared for a range of weather. “We went from the end of October to the beginning of November and we had all the weather in one week,” Rhiannon says. “At the start of the week it was 22°C and we were pottering around in sandals, but at the end of the time it snowed and it was truly dipping into winter.”