Bear Moat at Český Krumlov Castle

[Shirokuma]

Has anyone been to this castle in the Czech Republic? I recently read about it in a book about the Habsburg Empire. Bears have been kept there since the beginning of the 18th century.

The moat was renovated in the 1990s. It looks quite attractive now although it is still esentially a bear pit.

This picture shows part of the enclosure:

Bear Moat at ?eský Krumlov Castle

 

[Jana]

It has been at least 10 years since I´ve visited Český Krumlov for the last time. The town is beautiful and is worth a whole-day trip, but somehow I´m always short of time when I drive by.

There are still several other bear pits in use in this country:
Castle Konopiště with a terribly small pit and one Himalaya black bear.
Castle Zákupy with one Balkan brown bear.
Castle Točník with two young brown bears.
Castle Náchod with two old brown bears (ex-circus) in relatively spacious pit ca 900 m2.

 

[Shirokuma]

Thanks for that, in case people are interested I found some pictures:

Castle Konopiště

Castle Zákupy

Castle Točník - with some really scary closeup encounters!

Facebook page

Castle Náchod

 

[Jola]

Are there still 4 bears at Český Krumlov?

 

[Jana]

Are there still 4 bears at Český Krumlov?

There are only 3 still alive. Vok (30), Kateřina (30) and Marie Terezie (20). Hubert died few years ago.

 

[Jana]

Castle Točník - with some really scary closeup encounters!

Facebook page

The linked pictures show 2 young bears from Točník, and 3 adult 13-years old bears from Beroun. Beroun built a single bear enclosure in their city park few years back.

Close encounters with hand-reared bears are still rather common, even in zoos.
Zoo Plzeň

 

[Kifaru Bwana]

There are only 3 still alive. Vok (30), Kateřina (30) and Marie Terezie (20). Hubert died few years ago.

The Cesky Krumlov bear exhibit looks pretty good! I take it - given their ages - they do not breed the bears.

What is the current situation and status with local bears in the Czech Republic anyway?

Any interest from among UCSZ zoos to invest in local bear exhibitry?

 

[Jola]

Cesky Krumlov might be a nice day-trip from Vienna, I think I'm going to visit that in the near future.

 

[Jola]

How far is it from the train station to the bear moat?

 

[Arizona Docent]

Can someone across the pond enlighten me as to why bear pits were so common a century or two ago over there? I mean why always bears as opposed to lion pits or wolf pits or ??? Was it just the availability of capturing wild bears from the region?

 

[Batto]

The European Brown Bear is the biggest terrestrial Carnivora member of holocene Europe. Unlike exotic big cats, specimens were quite often available (orphaned cubs, dancing/fighting/circus bears randomly offered for sale...), representative, entertaining and relatively hardy and easy to maintain (being omnivorous). Deer pits/gardens became also popular during these times. Maybe due to the tendency of wolves to escape often and the public status of wolves as "pests", wolf pits might have failed to establish themselves. Best wishes back across the pond.

 

[Jana]

I´m reviving this ancient thread to add an update on bear pits in Czechia.

Last year, the govermental body that manages state-owned heritage buildings made an agreement with German animal right organisations to phase-out all bears from bear pits till 2030.

This decision was not accepted happily by local communities that usually cherrish their bears, donate food and money for their upkeep and consider them important part of local identity/heritage.

Current status:
Castle Konopiště - their only bear (himalayan black bear) moved to Ostrava zoo in January 2025.
Castle Zákupy - theit last bear died in 2020.
Castle Točník - present 1.1 brown bears will probably move to bear sanctuary in Germany, but unclear when.
Castle Náchod - last bear died 2024
Castle Český Krumlov - current 1.2 brown bears (31, 8 and 8 years old). That young pair was confiscated at Prague airport mid-transport to Russia in 2017. The younger 1.1. should move to a sanctuary, not decided to where and when.

Source - various local articles

 

[HOMIN96]

Castle Český Krumlov - current 1.2 brown bears (31, 8 and 8 years old). That young pair was confiscated at Prague airport mid-transport to Russia in 2017. The younger 1.1. should move to a sanctuary, not decided to where and when.

Also isn’t Krumlov still thinking about applying for the rescue station license as was stated in one of the articles?