Risnjak National Park
Bear kingdom
DE / EN
​
Only 20 km from the Mediterranean coast, in a huge area of forests at the boarder to Slovenia, one can find probably the highest density of Brown Bears in Europe. Furthermore, in the heart of this region some mystic forests grow, protected by the Risnjak National Park. Since at least 60 years no tree was cut, no animal was hunted.
As a result these virgin-like forests host an outstanding flora and fauna, with Ural Owl and Fat Dormouse, Grey Wolf packs and Brown Bears. And it's not by chance that "ris" means lynx in Croatian. This fascinating wilderness we will explore ...
​
At this 7-days-expedition we drive down from Vienna to the Risnjak National Park via minibus, where we change into 4WD cars. We proceed deeper into the forest and spend our first night in a National Park bearwatching hut, where we try to catch a first glimpse of this fascinating animal. Accompanied by a National Park ranger, we walk deeper into the wild and pitch up our tents in the middle of the forest. We stalk Wild Boar, Red Deer and White-backed Woodpecker, look for tracks of wolf and lynx, and try to observe bears. At night, around the campfire, we might even hear wolves howling ...