The Team
The people behind the scenes of BEAR SANCTUARY Arbesbach - get to know us!
back from left to right: Mathias, Daan
middle from left to right: Manula with Cat Pino, Renate, Sigrid, Monika, Bettina, Maria
front from left to right: Alexandra, Annelies, Birgit, Maria, Petronella, Gerlinde
(Missing on the photo: Elisabeth, Hermann, Sarah)
Mag. Sigrid Zederbauer
Site Managersigrid.zederbauer@baerenwald.at
Sigrid Zederbauer is the Site Manager and also responsible for Marketing at BEAR SANCTUARY Arbesbach. She has been a loyal member of the FOUR PAWS family since 2001.
Caretaking Team
Annelies Friedl, Mathias Frost, Gerlinde Mairhofer, Manuela Pfeiffer and Daan Beemsterboer take care of the bears' needs and gladly share stories about their work and the animals on guided tours.
Annelies Friedl, BSc, BSc
Chief Animal CaretakerAnnelies is leading the animal caretaker team at Arbesbach, coordinating the feeding, enrichment and veterinary care of the bears.
Mathias Frost
Animal CaretakerMathias has been an animal caretaker at BEAR SANCTUARY Arbesbach for several years. One of his other main tasks is taking care of the maintenance of the premises and the technical facility.
Gerlinde Mairhofer
Animal Caretaker and Administrationgerlinde.mairhofer@baerenwald.at
Gerlinde is a passionate animal caretaker. Besides assisting with administrative work, she is also always busy with taking pictures of the bears and posting them on our social media channels.
Manuela Pfeiffer
Animal Caretaker, Tour Guide and Assistant to Front Desk Officermanueala.pfeiffer@baerenwald.at
Manuela is an animal caretaker. You can also find her doing guided tours or in the souvenir shop, where she is helping out whenever there is a need.
Office & Visitor Service
In addition to the bears, our team members also take care of the well-being of visitors.
Birgit Weissinger
Visitor Service Team Managerbirgit.weissinger@baerenwald.at
Birgit has a big heart for animals. Her love of animals has even taken her to Africa. Back in the Waldviertel, she is now leading the service team at the sanctuary.
Elisabeth Kraus
Front Desk OfficerElisabeth, Lisi, is part of the staff at the ticket and souvenir shop of our BEAR SANCTUARY. She is also very skilled at craftsmanship and gardening. Her creative ideas can be found all over the sanctuary.
Bettina Hennerbichler
Front Desk Officerbettina.hennerbichler@baerenwald.at
Bettina will welcome you at the ticket and souvenir shop. Starting this year she will also introduce our sanctuary to visitors during guided tours.
Petronella Gradauer
Finance and Adminstrationpetronella.gradauer@baerenwald.at
Petronella is assisting the sanctuary management with administrative tasks.
Monika Puchner
Administration and Front Desk Officer, Tour GuideMonika is supporting us at the shop as well as in the office. With her cheerful and warm personality, she accompanies visitors on tours around the sanctuary.
Maria Pfeiffer
Cleaning Staff,Ticketoffice & Tour GuideMaria helps out at the shop, keeps everything neat and clean and takes care of "the chaos behind the scenes".
Alexandra Hechtl
Tourism Development Coordinatoralexandra.hechtl@baerenwald.at
Alexandra has been part of the team since 2022. Her creative skills are used in the development of visitor programs and the communication about animal welfare topics.
Maria Winkler
Tour GuideMaria Winkler is a great support with guided tours, children's educational programs and events. From time to time you will also meet her at the food stall of family Kolm right next to the sanctuary serving you a cool drink or a small snack.
Renate Pilz
Cleaning StaffRenate Pilz is the second "chaos manager" in the team, who makes sure that everything sparkles and shines for the visitors at the BEAR SANCTUARY.
External Support
Mag. Tanja Musil and Dr. Susanne Riegler are our external veterinarians and bear experts who oversee the medical care of our bears.
Gerhard Kolm is always there and willing to help whenever needed. He also takes care of hungry visitors at the food stall right next to the sanctuary.
Of course, the colleagues from FOUR PAWS Austria or other country offices and sanctuaries also support us in a wide variety of topics.
Special team members at BEAR SANCTUARY Arbesbach
Pino
Ozzy
Keksi
Fanni
Lola
