The key to proper wildlife management lies in proper people management.

The Alternative Wolf and Bear Park in the Black Forest in Germany serves as a rescue station for injured and abused captive bears, wolves and lynx from all over Europe. However, in addition to rescuing large captive carnivores, the park also strives to educate the public and provide targeted outreach activities.

In an interview with the Park’s director, Bernd Nonnenmacher, who visited Slovakia at the end of the year, you will also learn:

• How and why the Bear Foundation was founded in Germany;
• What were the stories of the first inhabitants of the rescue station;
• Since when Germany doesn’t have bears and why;
• How the German population sees the gradual reintroduction of wolves in Germany;
• How to prevent conflicts between large carnivores and humans;
• And what problems are associated with placing bears with altered behaviour in captivity.

Photo: Stiftung für Bären Executive Director Bernd Nonnenmacher, Source: B. Nonnenmacher’s private archive

One foundation, two projects. A real alternative for abused and neglected animals living in substandard conditions.

The Stiftung für Bären foundation runs two private rescue stations in Germany: one located near the town of Worbis and the other deep in the Black Forest National Park. Since the beginning of their operation, the Foundation has managed to rescue or help 42 bears, 38 wolves and 6 lynx, which have found a new home here and got help to process the trauma they previously experienced. These rescue facilities are all the more special as there are no free-living wild bears in Germany. So let us start the interview by talking about the circumstances surrounding the establishment of the Alternative Centre and the situation of large carnivores in Germany in general.

Where did the idea for a bear rescue station in Germany come from? Who was the initiator of this idea?

It all started in 1996 in Worbis in Thuringia. The local ZOO had gone bankrupt and Rüdiger Schmidel, a passionate animal conservationist, came to assess the condition of the remaining animals. Right at the entrance, he came across a medieval kennel with a mother bear named Maika. When he saw this female bear MAIKA, who was completely distraught and relentlessly biting the iron bars in a cage that was too small and unsuitable for her, his eyes welled with tears. The dream of helping the animals turned into reality and the idea of a bear park was born. In 1996, the newly founded animal protection association called “Aktion Bärenhilfswerk” took over the former animal park in Worbis and, thus, laid the foundation for this unique animal protection project. The animal welfare mandate of this institution was permanently safeguarded with the establishment of the Stiftung für Bären foundation in 2004. It was the first sanctuary for bears in Germany and a model for all other projects implemented in this field.

When did you join the team and where did your interest in large carnivores come from?

I found out about this animal conservation project in 2015 as a visitor to the Alternative Centre in the Black Forest and I was very excited about the idea. I applied for the position of a park manager and I worked there until 2019. In that year, our founder, my mentor and the executive director Rüdiger Schmiedel, retired. I took over the duties of a Managing Director, and I have been responsible for both projects in the Black Forest and in Thuringia ever since.

I have been passionate about bears and wolves for as long as I can remember. Even as a child, I was fascinated by these two animals. I have always spent every spare minute in nature and I went to study forestry. Later, I switched to a law school, and I spent part of my student life in the west of the United States. It was there that I had my first encounter with wild bears, and that experience has never left me. Working for the Foundation, I was able to turn my profession into a career mission. Something like that fulfils you every day.

Photo: Alternative Wolf and Bear Park in Black Forest, Source: Stiftung für Bären

Which was the first rescued bear in the park?

The above-mentioned MAIKA was the first inhabitant of the newly established bear sanctuary in Worbis. After the centre was established, she could leave her small cage and run around freely in the forest terrain.

In the Black Forest, the first inhabitant was a very distinctive female bear named JURKA. She was born in Slovenia and was involved in the very successful “Live Ursus” bear reintroduction project implemented in Northern Italy (Trentino region). She was a wild female bear that grew up in Slovenia and lived in the wild in Trentino. In Germany, she is very well known, as she is the mother of the much publicised “problem bear” BRUNO (JJ1).

In 2006, BRUNO became the first bear to set foot on German soil independently in 170 years. His mother JURKA became synanthropic because she was being fed by hotel owners and managers in Italy. She had lost her shyness and also taught her offspring to behave the same way. JURKA was then taken from the wild by project managers, who placed her in a small monastery ditch in San Romedio. We managed to get her out of there in 2010 and she was the first female bear to set foot on the grounds of Germany’s second alternative park in Black Forest.

Photo: Maika in her original kennel in Worbis and, later, as the first inhabitant of the Bear Park Source: Stiftung für Bären

Members of the SNC SR Brown Bear Intervention Team together with the General Director Dušan Karásek had the opportunity to visit your rescue facility for large carnivores in Black Forest this September. How many large carnivores do you currently have in the park?

We currently have 9 bears, 3 wolves and 3 lynx in our park in the Black Forest. The Worbis facility is home to 10 bears, 2 wolves and 2 lynx.

How many employees work for the Foundation?

We employ a total of 30 people. Since we do everything ourselves – technical operation, educational activities, animal care, the cash register, as well as catering, we have become quite big as a team.

How do you differ from a traditional ZOO and how is the centre funded?

A classic ZOO is a place where animals are shown to visitors. The emphasis is on people’s entertainment. We, on the other hand, act as a sanctuary for wild animals and focus on what’s best for the animals. We strive to provide natural environment for them, we do not feed them. We want to make people think about the need to protect wildlife and their natural habitat. It is extremely important to treat wild animals with respect. All the animals that live with us come from unsuitable farms and conditions where they have been mistreated. As an NGO, we have to fund our projects solely through entrance fees and donations.

Photo: SNC SR representatives on an official visit to Germany, Source: SNC SR

Every bear in your park has its own unique story. Which of them touched you the most?

From the moment I met her, JURKA evoked both a special fascination and sadness in me at the same time. To this day, she is the one who touches me the most and who also brings us a very important testimony.

She was a wild bear who knew the world beyond the fence. She knows there are lakes, mountains and green valleys. She knows what it means to be free. Her story is a difficult one, because she has paid the highest price for people’s irresponsible behaviour, and today she has to stay behind a fence. Even though we have offered her the best conditions possible and the environment as close to nature as possible, she is still a captive. We can see that JURKA is suffering and, to this day, she has an extreme urge to escape and regain her freedom. Her unbreakable desire for freedom fascinates me.

Of course, we are very sorry about that. However, those responsible for JURKA’S capturing are people, as they were feeding her in Trentino and turned her into a so-called “problem bear” (I don’t like to use this term). A similar fate awaited her cubs, too. Of her 5 cubs, only one bear cub is alive, in Trentino. The others are dead, just like her famous son BRUNO in the German Alps.

Photo: Jurka the bear in the Trentino monastery and, later, as the first inhabitant of the Alternative Centre in Black Forest

Source: Stiftung für Bären

One of the important aspects of the Stiftung für Bären foundation’s work is the comprehensive education offer, support for scientific work and participation in research projects. The aim is to promote public acceptance of bears, wolves and lynx in Germany. Since when has Germany not had wild bears living free and why?

The brown bear has been extinct in Germany since 1835. It has been completely eradicated by humans. The first bear set foot on German soil again after 170 years only in 2006. It was BRUNO, Jurka’s son. BRUNO was shot dead in the Bavarian Alps in 2006.

Since then, bears from Trentino have migrated to Bavaria from time to time, wandering back and forth across the state borders. Various sources also report that at least 2 bears are now permanently resident in the Bavarian Alps. However, this information is not investigated properly and is rather reluctantly presented to the public. Since Bruno‘s case, there has been almost no development of the [bears] management plan. Germany has learned nothing and is not preparing for similar situations.

Could you assess the situation in Germany concerning wolves? What is the current estimated population and which are the regions where wolves occur?

Similarly to bears, wolves have been completely eradicated in Germany. However, after the fall of the Iron Curtain, wolves returned to Germany via Poland. The first wolf pups were born in freedom in the Saxon Upper Lusatia region in 2000. Since then, wolf population in Germany has again been spreading from east to north-west, but sporadic occurrences have also been registered in the south. We assume they will have an upward trend. There are 157 known wolf packs, 27 pairs and 19 individuals in the 2020/2021 season.

How does the public perceive the status of wolves in the country? Are there voices calling for the possibility of their hunting?

The public is divided and this debate is full of emotions. I often find the arguments unfair, politically motivated and biased. While one side has an almost romantic idea of wolves, the other side sees them as personification of the devil. One side calls for shooting, the other side is against it. Wolves often represent a political issue that involves voting. Objective, evidence-based views and respect are very rare. Thus, even here we see our role as that of an important mediator between the different opinion fronts. What is certain, however, is that the wolf is now a strictly protected species under both German and EU legislation.

PHOTO: Wolf population in Germany (Source: NABU Germany)

Is German society ready for the eventual reintroduction of bears into the wild?

No, German society has forgotten how to coexist with the nature and how to understand nature. Germans are very afraid of nature, and they try to control everything. But the more they try to control nature, the more their fear grows, because nature cannot be controlled. That is why it is very important to educate people and to present nature as part of our culture and not as something that we own. The situation will be similar to that concerning wolves. Yet, even in this case the bear is strictly protected in Germany, and if it spreads further in Bavaria, it will be difficult to “get rid” of it. Still, neither society nor politics are prepared for this.

I understand that releasing a bear from long captivity is not an alternative. The bears are usually too attached to humans and would always seek their proximity. Is this the same with wolves and lynx? Is your rescue facility prepared for the eventual return of a wolf or lynx to the wild after recovery?

Yes, we are ready. We have a special facility in Worbis for such cases, and we cooperate with our Ministry of Environment. When releasing animals into the wild, it is of course important to limit their contact with humans to as little as possible. Wildlife should never associate food with humans. If they do that, it is usually their death sentence.

In November, you had the opportunity to visit Slovakia. Your guide was our colleague Michaela Skuban. You had a chance to visit a sheep farmer in Orava who uses special guard dogs to guard his herds. What did you find interesting during your visit?

I was very impressed by the dogs, how simply they lived among the sheep and how the interaction between dogs, sheep and people worked out. The livestock guards can work almost completely independently thanks to these dogs, and it is possible to protect the sheep without much technology. Here in Germany, we could learn a lot from this experience. The approach in Germany is that protection with dogs does not work. I would therefore like to show this example to many people here. The return of the sheep with the dogs was a very impressive moment for me, and one that I will not forget very soon. The farmer Vlado Ondrík also impressed me as a human – and, by the way, he makes the best sheep’s cheese I have ever eaten!

In your opinion, what is the most effective way to protect private property (sheep, bees…) from large carnivores?

There is no universal recipe. Wild animals are very individual, we forget that time and time again. We want firm rules, plans and assessable situations. But that is not possible. In the rules there is no nature, no bears or wolves. You have to look at the situation at hand and act locally. Basically, protection with electrical fences, guarding dogs and, above all, enlightened people and proper waste management must be at the forefront. For example, livestock guarding dogs cannot be used in every situation and in every area. It is therefore necessary to consider each situation in its context and handle it accordingly.

Photo: Miroslav Trimay

You had an opportunity to meet our colleagues from the Brown Bear Intervention Team, who are also educating the public about large carnivores. Another of their tasks is to remove bears with altered behaviour from the population. Do you think such bears could be placed in rescue facilities? Are such bears capable of living in captivity?

In principle, anything is possible. The question is, would you be doing the animal a favour? Just think of the story of JURKA. At the moment, we have 2 bears in our centre that come from the wild (Trentino), and it is very difficult for them to live in captivity. Bears are very smart. Depending on the situation, this can mean an enormous amount of work. As we can see from the example of the bear centre in Trentino, it is necessary to build extremely secure facilities for such bears, which is not a cheap endeavour. For example, one of the bears housed at the centre there has climbed over several electric fences and also repeatedly got over a 10 metre high concrete wall. As a result, deployment of even more advanced security systems was needed.

And how is the bear itself feeling there? I have seen him with my own eyes, and I have never heard a bear cry like this animal had. So is this just a political issue or an end in itself for the people? It is an absolute nightmare for the animal. In my opinion, it should be the last resort used only in absolutely exceptional situations. There are so many badly cared for bears all over Europe that you could do these animals a bigger favour – and they can be the ambassadors for the rest of their population, helping their relatives living in the wild.

What, in your opinion, is the best way to prevent conflicts between humans and bears? What is necessary for their mutual coexistence? What role does educating the society play in this process?

I am impressed by the Slovakian Brown Bear Intervention Team and their equipment. It is an incredible development and a good example for the whole of Europe. We have long been calling for such an intervention team (we call it a Wildlife Task Force) to operate across Europe. Yet these missions are always only combating the symptoms and not the causes of the issue. The change in waste management, which was – very impressively – explained to me by Michal Haring, is the exception, though. This is the absolute basis of everything. Garbage utterly changes wild nature.

Efficient management of bears or wildlife is always primarily, at 90%, in the management of people, not animals. Animals are what they are. In order for us to ensure our respectful coexistence with little potential for conflict, we need to educate and manage the people.

Let us support science and research. Developments that cannot be explained should be studied more closely. The aggressive attacks like the ones that have recently taken place in Slovakia were not observed anywhere else in the world. It is important to look for their causes and investigate them.

The absolute key to proper wildlife management lies in a proper management of people!

Photo: Transporting bears from different parts of Europe to a rescue facility is a complicated process, Source: Stiftung für Bären

Photo: Meeting with the General Director of the SNC SR, Dušan Karasko, Source: SNC SR

Photo: Guided tour in the Alternative Wolf and Bear Park in Black Forest, Source: Stiftung für Bären

Interview prepared by Kristína Bocková, Department of Communication and Promotion of the SNC SR