Frequently asked questions

Libearty is the largest brown bear sanctuary in the world, where more than 100 bears found the peace. The sanctuary represented the chance for a normal life for these wonderful animals, who had the misfortune to be kept in cages or forced to perform, in order to entertain people.

Hosted in an almost 70 hectares of oak forest, Libearty is 45 minutes away from Brașov, by car, near the city of Zărnești.

Cristina Lapis, the founder of the Millions of Friends Association and of the Libearty sanctuary dedicated her life to saving the animals. Maya, the female bear, kept captive in a cage, close to the Bran castle, determined her to promise that no bear in Romania will endure unbearable conditions. Unfortunately, Maya mutilated herself and could not survive. She left to oversee that the promise would become reality from the Great Bear Constellation. And it happened. In 2005, the working started and in the same year the first two saved bears arrived here: Cristi and Lidia.

Most of the bears in the Libearty sanctuary were saved from cages on the terraces in front of the restaurants, hotels, guesthouses, lodges and gas stations, as touristic attractions. Some others, because of the selfish love of some people, were kept behind bars, near factories, monasteries or mini-zoos, arranged in private households. Some others came from zoos that could not obey the European rules in the welfare of the animals and could not offer the decent living conditions for the animals.

Some wolves, that used to be kept in chains, as watch dogs or in cages went in the Libearty sanctuary. In other enclosures we have deer who were saved from the fangs of shepherd dogs, or were wounded and taken care of by the people who found them. Once they began to trust people, they would not have any chance to return to reality.

The Libearty sanctuary belongs to the Millions of Friends, a non-profit organization  which relies on the financial support and help of our NGO partners (World Animal Protection, WTG and SPCA International). Given that we receive no funds at all from the state, our private supporters uphold us, as much as they can.

Every year, in the Libearty sanctuary we have about 70 volunteers. The activities in the sanctuary might be dangerous and according to the law, we can not take volunteers directly. Thus, we only accept volunteers through Oyster Worldwide, which takes responsibility for the way they act and obey the rules.

For the care of every bear in the sanctuary we need to support 60.000 euros/month, which include food, medicine, medical materials, the costs with the vet, maintenance of the enclosures and pools, the video surveillance system, the bills for water and electricity, the payment of the caretakers, the maintenance of the cars used to transport the food, the security company etc.

More than 30.000 people visit the sanctuary every year and hear the stories of the bears, wolves and deer that we saved.

Yes. The access is forbidden for children under five, for safety reasons, for the smooth running of the visits and for the welfare of the bears. Please, be ready to present a document that certifies the age of your child/children.
For the tranquility of the bears, the number of visitors is limited to 50 per each tour. Each tour is guided. As the bears are nocturnal animals, all the tours are available only in the morning.

No! This is a sanctuary, where the animals have the freedom to stay in the woods or come close to the fence. Nobody is allowed to get close to the fence, feed the animals or try to get closer to them.

At the tickets and souvenir shop, you may find vending machines with water, soda and coffee. There are portable restroom facilities at the access point.

For the private and VIP tours, you need to make an appointment at least 48 hours in advance, by phone: +4 0268 471 202 or +4 0722 533 895 (available between 9.00AM and 4.00 PM) or by e-mail: milioanedeprieteni@gmail.com.

The sanctuary is open all around the year, with guided tours, except every Monday, the first Christmas Day, the first Easter Day and the first day of the New Year.