Home > Bear Projects

Through its projects, Bears in Mind focuses on three key areas:

  • Conservation (of wild bears and their habitat)
  • Education & Awareness
  • Welfare (of bears in captivity)

Bears in Mind cooperates with local NGOs, universities, governmental institutions and other stakeholders to address and work on bear-related issues, towards a sustainable solution.

Below you can find a selection of past and present projects using an interactive map. You can select by bear species, year of the project, country, partner we collaborate with or focus area.

Please let us know if you have any further questions via our CONTACT page.

Apply for project funding HERE – the next deadline is March 1, 2025!

Can corridors save Sloth bears?

Sloth bears (Melursus ursinus) are one of the umbrella species that play an important role […]

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Filling critical information gaps in black bear conservation in Pakistan

The Asiatic black bear (Ursus thibetanus) is one of the iconic species in Pakistan, which […]

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Understanding gut microbial diversity in Sloth bears

Gut microbial diversity of Asian bears is poorly studied; most studies have been conducted on […]

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Bear conservation efforts in Bangladesh

Conservation efforts in Bangladesh have predominantly focused on large charismatic species in the Sundarbans, such […]

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UNVEILING THE CRIMINAL NETWORKS BEHIND TRADITIONAL CHINESE MEDICINE IN THE NETHERLANDS AND THE EU

Criminals use the Netherlands to operate a network of illegal trade in traditional Chinese medicines […]

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Developing non-invasive conservation technology to monitor bears

Tasked with the huge challenge of conserving nature in a changing world, biologists are turning […]

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Sloth bears in Dang Deukhuri Valley, Nepal

Sloth bears (Melursus ursinus) are distributed across the lowlands of Nepal. Despite being categorized asvulnerable, […]

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Fostering coexistence for the Syrian brown bear in Iraqi Kurdistan

The brown bear (Ursus arctos) population in the Middle East is one of the rarest, […]

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Ending a centuries-old tradition in the Czech Republic

The famous Český Krumlov castle in the Czech Republic is a well-known UNESCO World Heritage […]

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A better life for two Armenian bears

The aim of this project was to confiscate several captive bears from poor private keeping […]

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Conservation of Himalayan black bears in Rara National Park, Nepal

In recent years, western Nepal has faced an increasing excessive human-wildlife conflict which resulted into […]

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Tackling illegal trade in bears in Indonesia

Bears are sought after for use in traditional medicines, for consumption and live as pets. […]

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Sloth bears outside protected areas in Nepal

The status of Sloth bears (Melursus ursinus) outside of protected areas in Nepal is unclear. […]

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Illegal wildlife trade threatens bears in Nepal

Illegal wildlife trade is an emerging conservation threat to biodiversity. It is most prominent in […]

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Oso Andino, el conflicto por el territorio

“Andean Bear, the conflict over territory” is a film documentary about the Andean bear, an […]

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Andean bear population status in Colombia

Evaluation of the Andean bear (Tremarctos ornatus) population status has been developed in Colombia by […]

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Understanding the most elusive bear in the World

Gobi bears (Ursus arctos gobiensis) are endemic to southwestern Mongolia, where only 31 individuals remain. […]

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Human-Carnivore Conflict study in Georgia

Human-Carnivore Conflict (HCC) is commonplace in Georgia, but it is especially severe in and around […]

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Bear Rescue Mission!

On this page, the latest rescue mission will be published. Bear MILAOn October 1st 2022, […]

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Protecting Sloth bears in non-protected areas

Sloth bear (Melursus ursinus) habitat is being degraded and fragmented in the Indian sub-continent. More […]

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Andean bear conservation in Peru

This project, supported by Bears in Mind since 2022, aims to assess the population and […]

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Bear conservation action in Eastern Caucasus

This project started in 2020, focusing on the local population of Brown bears in the […]

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HBC mitigation in Armenia

The Brown bear (Ursus arctos) is one of the threatened large carnivore species in Armenia […]

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Rewilding Asian bear species

Sun bears (Helarctos malayanus) and Asiatic black bears (Ursus thibetanus) are not only threatened by […]

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Conservation of bears in the Kyrgyz Republic

Himalayan brown bears (HBBs) were common species in all mountain regions of Kyrgyzstan. However, due […]

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Do rehabilitated young brown bears behave ‘normally’?

A relatively high number of rehabilitated brown bear cubs have been released over the last […]

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Public Awareness on Asiatic black bears in Russia

Low public awareness of the Asiatic black bear (ABB) in Russia leads to ignorance of […]

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Conservation Education for the Himalayan brown bear in India

The target species for this project, the Himalayan brown bear (Ursus arctos isabellinus) (HBB) is […]

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Human-Andean Bear Conflict Mitigation in Ecuador

In Ecuador, the Andean bear is listed as an endangered species, threatened by habitat loss […]

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Asiatic black bear conservation in Pakistan

The main aim of the project that Bears in Mind is supporting since 2020, is […]

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Problem-solving abilities in bears

With a special focus on brown bears (Ursus arctos) and other bear species, and in […]

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Understanding the market for bear bile in China

Bear bile has been used in Traditional Chinese Medicine for thousands of years, with the […]

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Genetics of brown bears in the Balkans

Phase 1. East Balkan Bear Project (2017-2023) The East Balkan distribution of brown bears comprises […]

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Veterinary Equipment for Bear Sanctuary

The situation regarding captive bears in the Ukraine is dire. As many as 400 bears […]

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Search for Sun bears in Vietnam

Bear populations have declined dramatically throughout Vietnam since the mid-1990’s. At this time the use […]

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Sun Bear Population Monitoring

Ongoing development and uncontrolled human expansion in the target landscape, which used to be one […]

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Cub Nursery & Intensive Care Unit in Laos

Free the Bears (FTB) has constructed a brand new, 60-acre wildlife sanctuary intended to provide […]

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New home for Bulgarian bears Medo & Buya

On August 3 2019, bears Medo & Buya were loaded onto a transport van which […]

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The bears & the bees

Damage by bears to beehives is one of the most prevalent human-bear conflicts in Slovakia, […]

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Bears in captivity in Bosnia and Herzegovina

Following the successful registration of illegally and legally held bears in Bosnia and Herzegovina (Pašić […]

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Community based Himalayan black bear conservation

Although Nepal has successful achievements in wildlife conservation, bears are never listed as a conservation […]

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Public Awareness on Captive Bear Issues in Georgia

The problem of keeping bears in captivity has a two decades-long history in Georgia. The […]

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Genetics of Andean bears in Venezuela

The general aim of the project (2005-2006) was to generate baseline information about the genetic […]

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Andean bear research in Ecuador

During a pilot project in 2012-2013, the research team used remote video cameras to study […]

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Bear Research & Education in Bosnia-Herzegovina

Between 2008-2011, Bears in Mind supported the project “Let’s Meet and Protect Bears- the Symbol […]

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HWC in Venezuela

This Human-Wildlife Conflict focused project was financially supported between 2005-2007. To gain more accurate insight […]

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Conservation of the Kamchatka brown bear

The aim of the project is to develop a science-based program of conservation, population health […]

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Red panda conservation in Nepal

The project team has interviewed important ‘stakeholders’ who come into contact with the Red panda: […]

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Asiatic black bears in Iran

Research in HormozganIn 2009, a project was initiated in cooperation with the Ministry of DoE […]

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Improvement of captive bear welfare in Armenia

The Foundation for the Preservation of Wildlife and Cultural Assets in Armenia (FPWC) uses film […]

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Conservation drones

The project was focused not only on Amur tiger and Amur leopard conservation, but it […]

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Bear Conservation in Myanmar

In the north-eastern region of the country human-bear conflicts occur regularly, especially involving the Asiatic […]

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Brown bear research in Pakistan

In 2012, Bears in Mind started supporting research into the occurrence and distribution of the brown bear […]

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Bear Education India

In India, habitat fragmentation and destruction is one of the main threats to bears, others […]

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Dancing bears in Bulgaria

In cooperation with Bears in Mind, Balkani Wildlife Society in Bulgaria visited & surveyed around […]

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Dancing bear rescue in India

In the 2000s, approximately 600 dancing bears were counted in India. By 2009 all were […]

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Wolverines in Norway

Sometimes Bears in Mind also funds non-bear projects. Like this study on wolverines in Norway, […]

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Bear-human conflicts in Turkey

A study documented 27 close encounters in 2003-2005, where harm to humans was reported in […]

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Bear Conservation in Georgia

The study area of this project is focused on the arid ecosystem in the extreme […]

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Counting bears in Croatia

The most important management decisions are the actions that directly influence and regulate the population […]

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Brown bear management plan Bulgaria

The project started in January 2004 and different stakeholders were invited to an introductory meeting […]

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Bulldozer for conservation

Research has shown that >20% of the southwestern Primorsky Krai, a region of almost 7,500 […]

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Workshop on reintroduction of bears

During a workshop on the reintroduction of wild bears in 2000, participants agreed that more […]

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HBC workshops Slovakia

The first workshop ‘Brown Bear Management in Slovakia’ was held in July 2011. Hunters, foresters, […]

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Bear Education Centre Kalimantan

In East Kalimantan (Indonesia), Sun bear habitat is rapidly shrinking due to forest conversion and […]

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Campaign to end bear abuse in China & Vietnam

Bears in Mind continues to help sanctuaries for the rehoming of abused and mistreated bears […]

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Large Carnivore Education Centre in Vlahi, Bulgaria

Bears in Mind has supported the development of the Large Carnivore Education Centre in Vlahi, […]

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Bear Education Thailand

The primary goal of the educational project funded by Bears in Mind (2011-2012) was to […]

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Large Bear Enclosures

Especially zoos (in non-western countries where bears often still live in concrete-steel cages), governments and […]

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Waste management in Slovakia

Inappropiate disposal of waste is a serious problem. Especially in bear habitat, near hotels and […]

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Four Sloth bears rescued in India

With financial help of Bears in Mind, four young Sloth bears were rescued and brought […]

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Three-legged bear Elvis

Three zoo bears were illegally released in the wild in Serbia in 2002 and one […]

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Spanish circus bears to the Bear Forest

Two circus bears were ‘rescued’ by a Spanish NGO and brought to their ‘sanctuary’ called […]

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Bears in need in Albania

Although brown bears are legally protected in Albania, many wild bears are poached and very […]

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A sanctuary for bears…

How it all started…The beginning of the idea and need to do something substantial for […]

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End the suffering for the Kormisosh bears

When bears received a protected status in 1993 and could no longer be hunted, the […]

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Bear Shelter Banostor, Serbia

Dancing bears were still performing on the streets of Serbia back in 1999 / 2000. […]

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Special care for captive bears in Turkey

Bears in Turkey face many problems. Their habitat is under constant pressure, not only because […]

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Bear Alert

www.bearalert.org Bear Alert is developed by the coalition of Bears in Mind and Foundation for […]

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Livestock Guarding Dogs Bulgaria

Semperviva is a Bulgarian organization which started to breed livestock uarding dogs again. Every year, […]

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Asiatic black bear Conservation Action

In 2008 Indian wildlife NGO ‘WildlifeSOS’ started the training of rangers under the project: ‘Asiatic […]

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Status of brown bears in Albania & Macedonia

The main aim of the project in 2008-2009 was to collect information that will enable […]

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Bear Research in Iran

A Bears in Mind-funded research study between 2010-2013 conducted by the Iranian Cheetah Society (ICS) […]

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Conservation Education in Laos

The bear sanctuary ‘Tat Kuang Si’, managed by Free the Bears (FTB) provides shelter to […]

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Orphaned bear cubs in Far East Russia

In the spring of 2009, three orphaned Asiatic black bears were taken to a small […]

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Bear Research Nepal

Increased knowledge and awareness among local people regarding the lifestyle of bears is of great […]

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Monitoring rehabilitated bear cubs in Romania

There is much discussion about whether rehabilitated bears are likely to become problem bears. Therefore, […]

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Thermoregulation in Polar- and Sun bears

Wild Polar bears and Sun bears live in parts of the world where living conditions […]

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Improving the social acceptance of brown bears

This project titled “Brown bear conservation and research program in a model area in Romania” […]

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Anti-poaching team Russia

In the Russian Far East, two of the world’s most endangered big cats occur: the […]

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Bear observation tower in Romania

At the end of the 20th century, the main sources of income of local communities […]

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Bear Population Research Russia

The goal of this pilot study (2007-2009) was to gather valuable data on bear populations […]

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