I've heard that Muncaster Castle in Cumbria/UK used to have some sort of animal collection that included Himalayan Black Bears. Does anyone know about this or visit there at the time. There are some postcards of these bears too and I'd be interested in getting hold of copies of them. Can Anybody help?
Quote from Anthony Smith - 'Animals on View ' 1977 - ' Muncaster Castle is a collection of animals predominantly of birds but with a few mammals to keep them company . These include Himlayan bears and wallabies . ' I visited the Castle collection 20 odd years ago but do not remember bears then , I think the owl collection had already started by then .
Hi Pertinax , yes Muncaster did have several Asiatic or Himalayan Black Bears and they bred them for some years. This would have been around the 1960s-70s. A pair were born in 1976 there aswell. There are postcards around of these bears at Muncaster but they are rarely come across. Regards , Zupu.
Thanks for the information Zupu. An interesting species for a place like that to keep, particularly as they are hardly to be seen in UK zoos now.
http://www.zoochat.com/1338/muncaster-122597/ http://www.zoochat.com/1338/muncaster-122596/ A couple of photos from inside the old Bear pit.
