Mõmmu-Ursula the brown bear enjoys Estonia's fall foliage and is preparing for winter, but when the abandoned cub first arrived at the park last year, staff were curious whether she would hibernate. She did not, said animal caretaker Kairi Hermits.

"She'd nap in her den during the day, but still came out to eat every morning and evening," Hermits recalled. Since her meals are provided, she may simply have decided there was no need to sleep through the winter.

"Compared with wildlife, our animals have the advantage of us providing them food each day," she said.

Ursula also really enjoys human interaction, and is even known to climb a tree to look for people whenever the park is closed, including on Mondays.

"She's very eager to interact with people; she loves the attention," Hermits said.

Alert your presence, keep your distance

Nonetheless, Hermits urged people to keep their distance from wildlife out in nature.

Wild animals generally avoid contact with people anyway, but she said talking, humming or singing can help alert them to people's presence in the woods and avoid close encounters.

"When you visit friends, you usually ring the doorbell or knock," Hermits explained. "When we visit the forest, we should be polite there too, because we're visiting wildlife."

While urban bear sightings do happen, encounters with brown bears in Estonia are more likely while hiking or foraging. A few simple tips shared by the Estonian Hunters' Society (EJS) can help keep you safe if you run into a brown bear in the wild.

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