Located one hour north of Budapest is the Medveotthon Brown Bear Sanctuary.The sanctuary first started when a group of European Brown Bears were rescued, with the help of the WSPA (World Society for the Protection of Animals), from alleged animal abuse in the film industry.
Since then, the sanctuary has become a haven for wolves and coatis as well.The ample enclosure has 12 caves, 2 lakes, and loads of wilderness for the bears to feel in their natural habitat.Last year, in an effort to increase conservation tourism and make the sanctuary more family friendly, they also opened a petting zoo. I left for the sanctuary around 9 a.m. from the train station in central Budapest.The station was quite fancy, which I base solely on the fact that they have the most lavish McDonald’s I’d ever seen!Round-trip tickets to the bear sanctuary were only 4 USD. The train was cozy and they had plenty of outlets to charge my electronics, which is always a plus. 😀When I got off the train in God-knows-where Hungary, I had one of the moments where I thought, “Megan! What the heck have you gotten yourself into now?” Luckily, there were plenty of signs directing me to the sanctuary, and it was only a brief 20-minute walk through Hungarian farmlands before I was there.
The older woman at the ticket counter was super cute too. In Hungarian, hello and goodbye are the same word, so I think she thought it was the same in English. I say this because she greeted me with ‘hello’ when I arrived, and as I was leaving, she waved goodbye and said ‘hello’ again. 🙂Anyway, I felt the brown bear facility was quite large and the perimeter was heavily wooded. They seemed to have plenty of room to roam, and the bears all appeared quite comfortable.They co-exist with the wolves, and at times, they would battle with one another for some chicken. The bears would let out a growl and the wolves would snarl their fangs. I suspect this dominance hierarchy is quite similar to how life would be for them in the wild.For the most part though, the bears were quite lazy and sluggish.I suspect maybe that is due to their upcoming hibernation in winter.There was one thing that got them moving though…and that was food!Visitors get jars of jam or honey with a wooden spoon, and they can then go around and feed the bears. The bears were loving it! ❤On the other hand, the wolves were anything but sluggish. They seemed to stalk me as I walked by, making me question the durability of their metal fence. They would also run and prance around the enclosure like gazelles. Hilarious to watch!😂Overall, the animals appeared content, and the sanctuary seems to be doing a nice job.Afterwards I headed to the petting zoo, since that was included in my 3 USD admission fee.Nobody there spoke English, except for this sweet girl who worked at the farm.She told me I could go in and play with the goats and pigs.You don’t have to tell me twice! 😂At the end of the day, I would recommend this place to any animal or nature lover, that needs a day away from the bustle of Budapest. I got to see a bit of the Hungarian countryside, and also saw how local families lived outside the city center. Two thumbs up! 😀