Alternative Bear Park Worbis

Nathalie’s father was in Weimar at the time, and we were looking for a nice excursion destination. That’s how we ended up at the Alternative Bear Park in Worbis. We had wanted to visit the park for a while but hadn’t gotten around to it until now. We learned about it through advertisements at the Wildcat Village in Hütscheroda. So, we rented a car and drove to the bear park, which is 1.5 hours away. Upon arrival, we noticed that there were containers with toilets next to the parking lot. These were actually quite clean, possibly due to the signs in the toilets. The signs mentioned that bears also clean up after themselves, which was a cute idea.

At the entrance, there’s a small building that also serves as a souvenir shop. However, after buying our tickets, we went straight into the park. There, we were first greeted by a peacock that observed us from behind the fence. At almost every corner of the park’s walking path, there are signs presenting various facts. The first enclosures feature smaller animals, such as guinea pigs, rabbits, and turtles. The turtles, in particular, caught Nathalie’s interest. After that, we came across a flower bed, a few more goats, and an empty bear cage. This cage was intended to show the poor conditions the bears lived in when the park was still a zoo. Nowadays, the park considers itself more as a sanctuary for bears from bad conditions, but you can also find other animals here, such as wolves.

In the park, there were statues of various bear species with information about their distribution and way of life. Soon after, we could see the first real brown bears. Unfortunately, the first bear we saw was already showing signs of psychological distress. It paced back and forth continuously, seemingly waiting for something. This behavior was likely a result of being chained for a long time or otherwise mistreated. Continuing along the path, there were small playgrounds and environmental activities with various information booths. Among other things, there was a game where you could test whether you could lift weights equivalent to those of a child (10 kg), an adult (50 kg), a bear (300 kg), or an ant (1400 kg). As expected, none of us managed to lift the weight of a bear. It was amusing, though, that the chain for the ant weight was broken and could be pulled up easily. Nathalie’s father managed to pretend he lifted it successfully, and Nathalie initially believed him.

At the back end of the park, there’s a nature trail with various information on how bears perceive sounds. At one sign, a loud bear roar was played, which we initially thought was coming from one of the enclosures. We only realized that it was being played from a specific spot after noticing it repeated in a pattern. It makes you wonder if the real bears are disturbed by the sound, but they must have gotten used to it.

One of the last attractions at the end of the park is a kind of race track. You press a button, wait for a green light, and then sprint to the finish line, hoping to be faster than a bear. Since a bear can reportedly run at speeds of around 50 km/h according to the information signs, it seems questionable whether it’s even possible to win this race. Nevertheless, Nathalie and her father raced down the track simultaneously, as seen in the video.

There were additional information signs, but these focused more on wolves and, rather oddly, a kind of church square that wasn’t marked on the map. After passing through a path lined with tall metal fences, you reach the central area of the park: the heart of the bear and wolf enclosures, where tables and benches are set up, and there is also a snack bar. We were fortunate to arrive there around lunchtime because that’s when the bears were being fed.

After watching the feeding, we sat down on one of the benches and ate the sandwiches we had brought with us. Nathalie’s father, however, got himself some rice pudding for dessert from the mentioned snack bar. I noticed that there were several types of vegan ice cream available, so I decided to get some. Additionally, there were even vegan dishes on offer, and both Nathalie and I were pleasantly surprised by that.

In the remaining part of the park, you can see the wolves—there were actually only two: a dark brown and a lighter-colored wolf. There is also a house with beehives. However, after that, there are quite disturbing signs and displays about bears, covering topics like bear fights, dancing bears, bears in circuses, and the use of bears in medicine. This definitely made us reflect. There are also additional playgrounds and a wall where Nathalie and I compared our heights to that of bears at different ages.

Finally, we visited a goat enclosure and a bird aviary. As we walked through the bird enclosure, Nathalie mentioned that she used to have some of those kinds of birds herself. Particularly amusing was the scene when we spotted a stray cat roaming outside the aviary. It seemed that the cat was not only eyeing the birds but also had something else in mind. When we looked inside the birdhouse, we noticed that mice were scurrying around on the floor, apparently trying to eat the leftover food. No wonder the cat would have liked to take a peek inside.

Back at the entrance of the park, we saw a peacock perched on a truck while another one walked past us on the sidewalk. The cat also made its way to the entrance of the souvenir shop, where it allowed itself to be petted. Inside the souvenir shop, Nathalie and her father bought a few souvenirs (got to support a good cause!) before we headed back to Weimar.

The Alternative Bear Park Worbis is indeed a nice destination, although it is somewhat difficult to reach (by public transport), similar to the Wildcat Village. In the evening, a funny coincidence occurred when we went to the restaurant “Zum Schwarzen Bären” in Weimar. This is mentioned only because of the name.