Bears in the Kaliningrad Zoo.

Andrey and I were really tired but we wanted to see the bears before we left the zoo. I love bears! I only realize now how fortunate I am when it comes to seeing wild animals. We have so many wonderful National Parks in South Africa where we can see a variety of wild animals up close. Unfortunately we don’t have bears and I never let an opportunity go by to see them in the zoo.

We found two brown bears in the zoo. I am not sure what the difference is between the Grizzly bear and the brown bear and if there is a difference. To me they looked one and the same. It was a very hot day and the one bear was pacing up and down. He looked a little grumpy and I didn`t blame him. I felt grumpy too and I didn`t even have a thick skin like him!

The smaller one of the two was looking for something. He went down to the bottom and walked there for a while before he was joined by the bigger bear. They both came back and started to look straight at us. Then I saw people taking apples out from a bag and the bear wriggled his nose and sat down with his front paws in the air – he was begging!

I have mentioned this before but I am totally against feeding animals in the zoo. People could feed them any garbage and they would eat it. However, people are allowed to feed the bears apples. It is true, they do have a sweet tooth and they thoroughly enjoyed chewing the apples. What strong jaws they have! Two bites and the apple was gone.

It was a real treat and I loved watching them. When I uploaded this video clip to Youtube I saw other videos too of the same bears in this zoo. It looks like they are well trained beggars and love to entertain the crowds.

Definitely a highlight of our trip to the zoo.

Kaliningrad Zoo Bear Update June 2016.

Unfortunately this post received a lot of negative publicity and animal activists have bombarded this post with rude and negative comments about the bears. (I deleted the comments because I have no time for rude people on my blog.)

I visited the zoo again in June 2016 and I went mainly to see how the bears are doing. They have a bigger area and they have caves where they can play and sleep. They looked happy and well fed. A big sign is there, asking people not to feed the bears because they get toothache.

Nobody wants to see animals caged up. In South Africa we are used to see them roaming in the wild and there is nothing better than that. Unfortunately, if you look at the statistics and how many rhinos are being poached in South Africa, you have to look at a zoo different. This might be the only place where we will be able to see these magestic animals if people keep on destroying our beautiful planet and animals.

My view: If animals are well taken care off, have enough space, proper medical care, a mate and love then I am happy.

Date: 6 June 2016.

Where: Kaliningrad,Kaliningrad Oblast,Russia