When you think of Transylvania, I’m sure images of bats, haunted castles and Dracula’s cape flying through the air spring to mind. But there is a greener, more beautiful side to Romania that you might not have been aware of. A place where you are able to hike through mountain paradises in the hopes of spotting a wild bear or wolf.
I’ll start by saying we didn’t see a wild bear. Or a wolf. Unfortunately after hours of hiking and bear tracking the closest we got to a bear was seeing its droppings. But that doesn’t matter when you have scenery like this.
A small, peaceful country town called Zărnești is nestled into the base of the Carpathian Mountains. From here you can explore the thousands of kilometres of Romanian wilderness, which include everything from dark forests where tree roots always try trip you up, through to big green meadows filled with beautiful spring flowers.
While you hike for hours, it doesn’t feel like it is that long or too difficult because everywhere you turn there is something incredible to look at. There are hundreds of different types of flowers, birds calling in the treetops, and beautiful butterflies flitting around your head. As you stop for lunch on the top of one of the mountains, it is impossible not to admire your surroundings. You might even be lucky enough to share your lunch with this little guy – a blue long horned beetle (Rosalia Longicorn) which is on the protected species list.
The blue long horned beetle (Rosalia Longicorn) is on the protected species list.
It is not recommended that you take a hike through these mountains on your own – the tracks are poorly marked or even non-existent at times and you would miss out on all the signs you need to look out for when tracking animals. Our guide for the day was a bear conservation expert so he knew what he was looking for. He showed us bear tracks, droppings, their scratch marks in nearby trees and where their fur had been caught in tree sap. At time, we were only a few hours behind the bears. He could even tell that we were tracking two bears, one of whom was a juvenile.
Bear track sighting
Despite not seeing a bear, we spent many happy hours sitting on the banks of a hill surrounded by flowers overlooking a patch of bushes filled with berries. Berries that the bears love.
One place you are guaranteed to see a bear, rain, hail or shine, is the Libearty Bear Sanctuary which is also in Zărnești. The sanctuary was established in 2005 by Cristina Lapis and is currently home to 70 bears and one wolf.
These animals have all been rescued from private zoos, circuses, or the tourism industry where they were often tortured and injured before they were forced to work. Sadly, there are still many bears living in captivity in Romania, and many more in other countries around the world.
Today these rescued bears are free to roam around 70 acres where they are able to live relatively normal lives. Due to their history with humans, they associate people with food and if they were released into the wild they would likely visit nearby towns to seek out food where they would be killed by the authorities. Many of the bears also have injuries that are so severe they would not be able to survive in the wild.
Instead, their access to humans is restricted to two hours per day when visitors are allowed to tour the sanctuary to see the bears being fed. This allows the sanctuary to raise funds while still maintaining as much independence as possible for the bears living in the sanctuary.
While it is a far cry from life in the spectacular Carpathian Mountains, for these bears they have managed to find their own slice of freedom. For those seeking to see bears, it is important to see their natural habitat as well as the place which rescued bears now call home.
So what are you waiting for? Maybe it is time to plan your next holiday through the Carpathian Mountains. You never know, you might be lucky enough to spot a wild bear!