Podcast in English
Text size
Bulgarian National Radio © 2025 All Rights Reserved

After carefully preparing her lair, Svetla the bear is now hibernating

Photo: Facebook/BearSanctuaryBelitsa

The 32-year old brown bear Svetla from the dancing bears park in Belitsa is now hibernating in her lair. These past few days she has very carefully been preparing her den, veterinarians from the park say, and explain that like most inhabitants of the park in Belitsa, Svetla the bear used to be a dancing bear, and that she was rescued in 2007. For years she was used as a tourist attraction in Bulgaria’s Black Sea resorts and in other parts of the country. When she wasn’t making money for her owners, they kept her chained in their back yard. Since she was rescued, Svetla has adapted perfectly to her new home in Belitsa. 

The news that Svetla the bear is now sleeping went viral on Facebook, and was seen as a sign that winter is coming. An interesting detail is that when temperatures are lower, bears fall into a deeper and longer sleep. As temperatures begin to rise and snow begins to melt, the sleep of the bears grows “shallower”, they wake up more easily and can grow aggressive.



Последвайте ни и в Google News Showcase, за да научите най-важното от деня!
Listen to the daily news from Bulgaria presented in "Bulgaria Today" podcast, available in Spotify.

More from category

The Bulgarian Sunday School "Asen and Ilia Peykovi" in Rome organizes an online seminar on children's books

The Bulgarian Sunday School "Asen and Ilia Peykovi" in Rome is inviting participants to an online seminar themed "Biserche Valshebno". The event, taking place on March 22 and 23, is a continuation of the discussions that emerged during the Second..

published on 3/22/25 9:00 AM

Bulgaria marks Earth Hour and World Water Day

"It all started on a March evening in 2007 when 2 million people and 2,000 companies in Sydney (Australia) turned off their lights for one hour – from 8:30 PM to 9:30 PM – to show that they care about nature and the climate. Back then, no one could..

published on 3/22/25 6:05 AM

Balkan developments

Concert in North Macedonia turns into tragedy  A nightclub fire tragedy left North Macedonia in grief. A concert by the popular hip-hop group DNA, which was supposed to become a celebration in the small town of Kočani, turned into a true..

published on 3/21/25 11:20 AM