Brown bears are big but shy. They mostly stay deep in the forest and prefer to keep away from people. In Serbia, hikers in Tara might see a paw print in the mud, or a tree where a bear has scratched its back - but actually seeing a bear is very rare.
Bears are omnivores, which means they eat lots of different things. About three quarters of what they eat is plants - berries, nuts, mushrooms, roots, fresh grass. They also eat insects, fish from streams, and sometimes leftover food. They are clever at finding the next meal.
Each winter, brown bears sleep through the cold. They curl up in a den - usually a cave or a hole in a hillside - and slow their whole body down. They don't wee, eat or drink for months. Mother bears even give birth to tiny cubs during this long sleep, and the cubs feed and grow until spring.
When spring arrives, bears wake up thin and hungry. The first thing they do is look for fresh grass and roots. Cubs - now the size of a small dog - come out of the den blinking at the light for the very first time.