Spring celebrations at Skansen

Mamma bear Lill-babs brought out her four 3-month-old cubs for the first time in public. 

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  "No fighting, stay away from your brothers and sisters ..." Photo: Pernille Tofte

• It’s been 125 years since Skansen opened on an island in Stockholm. The year was 1891, and Arthur Hazelius and his colleagues wanted to show how Swedes and Nordic wildlife lived in different parts of the country. Now the open air museum and zoo is one of Sweden's biggest tourist attractions, and it’s celebrating its 125th anniversary throughout 2016.

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  Proud mother with one of her cubs. Photo: Marie Andersson

• The excitement has begun with the births of new spring babies — visitors can now see owlets, wild boar piglets, an African pygmy goat kid, and for the first time in 23 years, a litter of four bear cubs, born in January.
  Just this week mamma bear Lill-babs brought out her four cubs from their winter hibernation — making their debut with a few tentative first steps outside the den. At birth they each weighed just half a kilo (1 pound). They now weigh approximately 5 kilos (11 pounds) and are out exploring together. Here is video footage of the new bear family on their first day out: The Skansen cubs leave the den
  For more information about how Skansen is celebrating while you're there, see http://125.skansen.se