The Czech Republic is currently one of the last countries in the world where bear keeping in castle moats still exists. The longest history of bear keeping in castle moats of the Czech Republic holds the Český Krumlov Castle. Being part of the same-named town in South Bohemia, the castle is the dominant feature of the town, contributing to its UNESCO World Heritage status in an undeniable way. As of 2024, its moat is home to three brown bears and has housed bears for more than 300 years. The first bears were kept at the castle from the second half of the 16th century, dating back to the time of Wilhelm von Rosenberg. However, there is no information available where exactly the bears were kept back then. It could not have been in the current moat, as that one was not built at the beginning of the Thirty Years’ War, around 1620. The first records of four bears being kept in the moat date from 1707. Bears were kept in the moat continuously from the 1730s to the 1790s, a break from bear keeping came in the first half of the 19th century. By 1857 Karl Schwarzenberg from the Orlík lineage obtained some bears from Transylvania (Romania) for Johann Adolf II zu Schwarzenberg. Besides the fact that bears were bred and born in Český Krumlov Castle, their numbers were maintained by purchases from zoos, as well as donations from famous aristocrats. From 1887 the moat remained uninhabited for 20 years. In 1907, Prince Sigmund Schonburg-Waldenburg zu Schwarzenberg brought two bears named Ruschi and Ajax to Český Krumlov from Kynžvart Castle. The first bear lived until 1930, the other one until 1935. After that, the moat has always been inhabited by bears until present day.
The castle with the second-longest history of bear keeping in the Czech Republic is the Konopiště Castle in the Central-Bohemian Region. The Lobkowicz Family brought the first bears to the castle in the mid-nineteenth century. Francis Ferdinand d’Este then continued the tradition. The last bear, an Asiatic black bear named Jirka, was relocated to Ostrava Zoo in December 2024 to spend his days in a large naturalistic enclosure that he needs.
The third Czech castle which has kept bears is the Točník Castle of Central Bohemia. First two brown bears came to Točník in 1994 from Cirkus Berousek. Since then, the bear moat was always occupied with breaks necessary for reconstructions of the enclosure. Bears were later donated to the castle by Zoo Plzeň, were an offspring of bears gifted by the Romanian dictator Ceaucescu, or were donated by Czech movie director Václav Chaloupek.
The fourth moat is situated at the Náchod Castle in Eastern Bohemia, and was built in 1994 for two brown bears, a female Dáša and a male Ludvík, obtained from Circus Šimek. In January 2023 Dáša died and male Ludvík died two years later in January 2025.