After nearly three months of deep sleep, brown bears at their sanctuary in northern Greece have awaken from winter hibernation and are active once again, signaling the arrival of spring in one of the coldest regions of the country.
The Arcturos Bear Sanctuary in Nymfeo has come back to life after being closed, as in every year, for the winter months when bears are hibernating and must remain undisturbed. Now it re-opened for visitors, who can observe the bears in their naturalistic enclosures and learn about their behavior and conservation efforts.
With the arrival of spring, each bear reacted differently to waking up. Patrick and his best friend Louiza, began playing and rolling in the remaining snow, while Duke immediately jumped into his pool, reluctant to leave even after hours of swimming. George climbed trees to see the world from above and Sandy, true to her habits, was the last one to emerge from her den. Finally, Mira looked a bit disoriented, looking like she was still struggling to wake up.
The Arcturos Bear Sanctuary is operated by Arcturos, a non-profit environmental organization founded in 1992 that works to protect Greece’s wildlife, focusing on the conservation of brown bears, wolves and lynxes. The bear sanctuary is a vital center for the rescue and rehabilitation of bears, many of whom have been injured in the wild or have been kept in captivity. Aside from offering a safe haven to animals who cannot survive in the wild, Arcturos engages in environmental education, scientific research and habitat conservation.
The region of Florina, home to Arcturos’ wildlife preservation areas, is among the coldest areas of Greece. The capital city of Florina, a popular winter tourism destination, has always been one of Greece’s coldest inhabited places, and is definitely its coldest major city.
Temperatures often drop below fourteen degrees Fahrenheit (-10°C), and snow is more often seen there than anywhere else in the country. Florina also holds Greece’s all-time record-low temperature of -20 degrees Fahrenheit (-29°C), which was recorded just a few years ago.
The densely forested area surrounding the city constitutes an optimal habitat for local wildlife. Each of the twenty-one bears that live in Arcturos’ preservation area near the picturesque village of Nymphaeon, has been registered and classified by the environmentalist team.
According to Arcturos, in Greece there are an estimated 450 bears, living in two independent populations, which are not geographically linked. The largest population lives in the Pindos Mountains, while the Rhodope Mountains are also home to quite a large population.
Additionally, in recent years, there has been consistent evidence of the presence of bears in the mountain axis of Vora in Olympus and Central Greece—even down to the mountainous Nafpaktia, an area where there have been no sightings in the last seventy years.
