Brown bear Tapsi was born in a zoo in Klötze, Germany, in 1990 and lived there with her father Bummi (†). For a long time, they lived a sad life in a tiny concrete cage surrounded by metal bars. In 2012, we were finally able to bring both bears to the BEAR SANCTUARY Müritz.

Tapsi settled in well, but it took her quite some time to get familiar with the new environment. Although she was relatively nervous, she quickly got used to her caretakers and her new species-appropriate environment. In order to have an overview of her surroundings, she preferred lying on high structures.

At the beginning of April 2013, Tapsi's father Bummi had to be euthanised, due to his severe health condition. For Tapsi, these were rough times! It took a very long time for her to recover, and her caretakers did their best to distract her from the distress. 

Luckily the brown bear Michal managed to get her out of this difficult situation. The two bears were socialised during the mating season and got along fantastically right away. They were ‘beary’ happy together! The two bears even spent the hibernation period together in a shared den and were rarely seen apart.

Unfortunately, to avoid physical injuries to Tapsi, Michal and Tapsi were separated during the mating season in 2021 for the first time. Tapsi was an older female bear with hip problems for some time. During the annual vet check in April 2022, Tapsi was thoroughly examined by our veterinarians from IZW Berlin. The examination showed that her hip was badly destroyed due to her age. The diagnosis proved our previous precautions right. We decided to keep Tapsi and Michal separated even after the mating season. The decision was made to protect Tapsi from possible injuries while romping and playing with Michal.