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Terra Natura Murcia says goodbye to Fabila, the brown bear who became a park legend
The 34 year old female, one of the zoo’s best loved residents, helped raise awareness of endangered brown bears in Spain
Visitors and staff at Terra Natura Murcia are mourning the loss of one of the park’s most recognisable animals. Fabila, a brown bear who had just turned 34 in January, has died after spending nearly three decades as one of the true symbols of the wildlife park.Fabila arrived in Murcia back in 1997, when the site was still the old Espinardo zoo. She came from the Martioda centre in Sobrón, Álava, in the Basque Country autonomous community, together with another bear called Baku. They were the very first brown bears to be housed at the park, long before Terra Natura Murcia became what locals know today.
Over the years, Fabila became a familiar face to generations of visitors. She spent 28 years at the zoo and was at the heart of many special moments, including celebrations for her 23rd birthday in 2015 and her 30th in 2022. The park marked those milestones with events that highlighted just how important she was to the team and to the public.
Fabila was also an important breeding female. She was the mother of two bear cubs, Yaki and Nuca, whose names were chosen through a public campaign. Their story helped to connect local people with the conservation work being done at the park. Educational talks about brown bears have regularly used Fabila’s life as a way to explain the species’ behaviour, from hibernation in winter to the way females raise their cubs.
Brown bears on the Iberian Peninsula are considered an endangered species, with their numbers and genetic diversity having fallen sharply in recent decades. In that context, Fabila’s long life is especially significant. The park points out that this species usually lives between 25 and 35 years, so her 34 years place her at the upper end of the normal lifespan.
Terra Natura Murcia underlines that caring for animals like Fabila is part of its wider role in conservation and education. The park’s team say that bears such as her help visitors understand why protecting threatened species in Spain still matters. After almost 30 years in Murcia, Fabila leaves behind not just her descendants, but also a legacy as one of the most iconic residents the park has ever had.
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Image: Terra Natura Murcia
