In 2009, two Mongolian brown bears, orphans Mischa and Mascha, were given to Bern by the Russian President Dmitri Medvedev and his wife, who were visiting Switzerland for the first time. The cubs were put in Bern animal park, but their enclosure was too small. So the zoo raised SFr.3 million for a big new Bear Forest. (Julie Hunt, swissinfo.ch/SF)
