Bristol’s Bears come face to face at Wild Place Project

Bristol Bears’ playing squad are due to meet their namesakes at Wild Place Project next month.

First team players and staff will head to the attraction’s Bear Wood exhibit on Tuesday April 19 to meet the four European brown bears which live there. 

Visitors to Wild Place Project will be able to meet the players at Bear Wood, where they will sign autographs and pose for photos from 12.30 until 1.15pm.

Players from the squad first visited Bear Wood soon after it opened in 2019, but this is the first time they have been back since COVID forced Wild Place Project to close for much of 2020 and 2021.

James Kitto, Head of Commercial Operations at Wild Place Project, said: “We are delighted to be welcoming the Bristol Bears players back to reunite with their four-legged counterparts after almost three years, and to offer our visitors the chance to meet the city’s two sets of bears at the same time!”

As well as the four brown bears, Bear Wood is also home to wolves, lynxes and wolverines. Visitors to the impressive, eight-acre exhibit enter the woodland through a ‘time machine’ and follow a winding treetop walkway, journeying back to a time when these charismatic species roamed the UK countryside. Bear Wood tells the story of how these species all became extinct in the UK, and inspires visitors to care for the wildlife and habitats we still have.

Wild Place Project is a fun, family attraction that provides outdoor adventure, play and learning with an emphasis on protecting threatened habitats on our doorsteps and around the world.

Wild Place Project invites visitors to take a glimpse into eco-systems from around the world, including those found in Madagascar, Cameroon, the Congo, as well as British ancient woodlands. It offers the chance to see amazing animals including giraffes, zebras, cheetahs, gelada ‘baboons’, lemurs, meerkats, red-river hogs, elands and more.

The award-winning attraction is owned and managed by Bristol Zoological Society, a conservation and education charity that runs conservation projects in four continents.

The Bristol Bears first team will be visiting Wild Place Project on Tuesday April 19 from 12.30 until 1.15pm at Bear Wood. The meet and greet event is free but usual admission prices apply. To avoid disappointment we recommend pre-booking your visit and allowing enough time to walk from admission to the Bear Wood exhibit: wildplace.org.uk/plan-your-visit/online-tickets.