The rescue bears of FOUR PAWS Bear Sanctuary Müritz in Germany enjoyed BEAR-y Tartare made by Priyanka Naik
BARENWALD Muritz/FOUR PAWS
Pavle the bear enjoying the Beary Tartare at a FOUR PAWS sanctuary
It pays to be sleepy!
In July 2024, the rescue bears residing at FOUR PAWS Bear Sanctuary Müritz in Germany were treated to a feast created by award-winning chef Food Network champion Priyanka Naik.
The brown bears were treated to an opulent yet healthy meal to celebrate their participation in March Napness — FOUR PAWS’s tournament-style bracket competition held to see which of the organization’s rescue bears, who live across six sanctuaries, hibernated for the longest.
Getting good rest is always a cause for celebration, but especially so for FOUR PAWS rescue bears. These animals were pulled from captivity, where they were kept in neglectful conditions that prevented them from engaging in their natural hibernation behaviors.
BARENWALD Muritz/FOUR PAWS
Chef Priyanka Naik
“Being able to provide them with the prerequisites to show this behavior and seeing them follow their natural instincts, despite never having ‘learnt’ how, is what I celebrate with March Napness,” Svenja Voss, a FOUR PAWS sustainable sanctuaries tourism development coordinator, shared in a statement. “That’s the greatest gift these rescue bears can give us. It shows that what we’re doing is working.”
The bears at FOUR PAWS Bear Sanctuary Müritz enjoyed hibernation and a custom meal crafted by Naik. To create the celebratory dish, the plant-based chef conferred with the bears’ caretakers about the animals’ personal preferences and what makes up a healthy brown bear diet.
Related: After 17 Years in Tiny Cages, 9 Bears Are Moving to a ‘Species-Appropriate’ Sanctuary in Vietnam
“I asked the FOUR PAWS team what the bears tend to eat, and they were able to share their preferences! They mentioned that each of the 11 rescue bears at Barenwald Müritz Sanctuary has their specific favorites, i.e., melons, nuts, root veggies, honey, and almond butter, to name a few. So, I wanted to create something colorful and fun to eat and encompass their favorite flavors,” Naik tells PEOPLE.
BARENWALD Muritz/FOUR PAWS
Bear Dasha eating Beary Tartare
With this in mind, she devised a recipe suitable for bears: The BEAR-y Tartare.
“I wanted to recreate this dish (which normally uses raw beef and egg yolk) but instead with fruits and veggies! I emulated the steak with cooked red beets and watermelon, tangerine, honey dressing for egg yolk, cantaloupe for a hard-boiled egg, and garnished it with walnuts and raisins for that extra crunch. In order for the tartare to stay together on the wooden serving dish for the bears, I used almond butter as the glue,” the self-taught chef shares.
With the recipe set, Naik crafted the tartare at the sanctuary’s designated bear kitchen. While this marked the “absolutely first” time Naik cooked for bears, she made sure to consider her furry clients’ needs.
Related: Bear Kept in Tiny Indoor Cage Sees the Outdoors for the First Time in 20 Years During His Rescue
“Gloves were worn at all times, and the portions were large. The veggies and fruits were cut into single large pieces versus diced into smaller pieces. I did this to make it easier for the bears to eat. We also served each bear’s tartare on large individual wooden planks,” Naik says.
BARENWALD Muritz/FOUR PAWS
Priyanka Naik preparing Beary Tartare for the bears at FOUR PAWS Bear Sanctuary Müritz in Germany
Watching the bears chow down on the meal was rewarding for the chef, who enjoyed watching how the animals approached the dish.
“It was so cute to see them quickly saunter over, using their detective-like noses to smell it out. I noticed that the male bears would do a few licks and then take a few big chomps and swallow it pretty much whole, while the female bears would delicately lick the bear-y fruit tartare and really seem like they’re savoring the dish,” Naik says of the reactions to her BEAR-y tartare.
Overall, the “experience of meeting the rescue bears was incredibly fulfilling and confirmed how deserving these bears were of this special meal,” she adds.
BARENWALD Muritz/FOUR PAWS
Bears Dasha and Lelya enjoying Beary Tartare made by chef Priyanka Naik
Naik is confident that the sanctuary bears thought her meal was worth waking up for, and she hopes that animal lovers will see how deserving these animals are.
“Every being on this planet deserves the right to live freely, eat as they want, and live out what they’re intended to do,” Naik says.
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“I hope others can see how much goodness there is in this world just by looking at how much people are doing for these beautiful animals. And even though these bears suffered at the hands of humans in the past, they still trust humans so much, and you can see the emotion in their beautiful eyes,” she adds.
Visit FOUR PAWS’s website to learn more about the organization’s work helping captive bears and other wild animals.
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