87. The Vitosha Bear Museum Lives in a Tiny Mountain Hut

Vitosha Mountain, the southern border of Sofia, Bulgaria, is home to about 15 brown bears and one bear museum. According to Dr. Nikola Doykin, fauna expert at the Vitosha Nature Park Directorate, the bear population is stable—if humans stay away and protect their habitat. To Doykin and his team, teaching children about the bears is the best way forward, and the Vitosha Bear Museum does just that. Founded in 2002 by repurposing an abandoned mountain shelter for the Vitosha mountain rangers, the Vitosha Bear Museum provides “useful tips on how to meet a bear.” It’s also sparse: the entire gallery is a single room, and the gallery lighting is powered by a car battery. In this episode recorded at the museum, Dr. Nikola Doykin describes why the location is so useful for eco education, how groups of schoolchildren react to exhibits, and what the museum plans to do when it installs solar panels. Topics and Notes 00:00 Intro 00:15 Vitosha mountain (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vitosha) 00:50 The Viosha Bear Museum (http://park-vitosha.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/02/spisanie-ENG_July-2012.pdf) 01:05 Dr. Nikola Doykin (https://www.nature-experience-bulgaria.com/nature-tour-guides/nikola-doykin-vitosha-nature-park-tour-guide/) 02:10 The Location of the Museum (https://www.google.com/maps/place/Музей+на+мечката/@42.636078,23.2115471,14z/data=!4m5!3m4!1s0x0:0xa27af03db6067ea9!8m2!3d42.636078!4d23.2251191) 04:00 "Useful Tips On How To Meet A Bear" (https://www.novinite.com/articles/204909/Vitosha+Nature+Park%3A+The+Bear+Museum+and+The+Museum+of+Owls+Open+for+Visitors) 04:35 Bear Markings in the Museum 06:40 Ep. 6 Muzeiko (https://www.museumarchipelago.com/6) 06:50 Ep. 46 Vessela Gercheva Directs Playful Exhibits at Bulgaria’s First Children’s Museum (https://www.museumarchipelago.com/46) 08:30 Outro | Join Club Archipelago 🏖️ (https://www.patreon.com/museumarchipelago) Museum Archipelago is a tiny show guiding you through the rocky landscape of museums. Subscribe to the podcast via Apple Podcasts (https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/museum-archipelago/id1182755184), Google Podcasts (https://www.google.com/podcasts?feed=aHR0cHM6Ly93d3cubXVzZXVtYXJjaGlwZWxhZ28uY29tL3Jzcw==), Overcast (https://overcast.fm/itunes1182755184/museum-archipelago), Spotify (https://open.spotify.com/show/5ImpDQJqEypxGNslnImXZE), or even email (https://museum.substack.com/) to never miss an episode.

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Transcript

Below is a transcript of Museum Archipelago episode 87. Museum Archipelago is produced for the ear, and only the audio of the episode is canonical. For more information on the people and ideas in the episode, refer to the links above.

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Towering over the Bulgarian capital of Sofia is Vitosha mountain. Connected to the city by several public buses, residents like me love hiking the numerous mountain trails to get away from the hustle and bustle.

[Hiking Sounds]

And it was on one of these solitary hikes that I first came across The Vitosha Bear Museum. At first I didn’t quite know what I was looking at: a cute little hut halfway up the mountain with a locked door and boarded up windows.

But the sign said Bear Museum in Bulgarian, and also that the museum was closed because it was “hibernating” for the winter.

So I sent some emails and that’s how, a few days later, I met Dr. Nikola Doykin at the museum.

добър ден! (Good day!)

Dr. Nikola Doykin: добър ден! (Good day!)

Dr. Nikola Doykin is a Fauna expert at the Vitosha Nature Park Directorate, the organization that runs the museum. And he also had a key to open the museum door, which he wasn’t sure would work because it