Watching the bears at the zoo is a favorite pastime in Bern, Switzerland. John Phillips tells how that at one time there were two pits of brown bears with a male and female in each den. He writes, "As I watched from above one day, the male below me climbed the tree to a point where he could look down over the wall into the other's pit. Gazing with longing at the female on the other side, he curled his lips and uttered low plaintive sobs. Meanwhile, the other male had climbed his tree to gaze mournfully across the wall at the first bear's mate."