The Foundation for the Preservation of Wildlife and Cultural Assets in Armenia (FPWC) uses film to create awareness about the important and stunning biodiversity present in Armenia as well as in the whole southern Caucasus region. The region is a so-called ‘hotspot’. This means that it is extremely rich in species but is at the same time also one of the most threatened areas in the region. Locals are hardly aware of these treasures of abundance and hardly do anything to protect it. FPWC strives to raise awareness amongst the local people, old and young, in multiple ways.
Since 2011, FPWC has been closely involved with Yerevan Zoo. This has presented a unique opportunity to put Armenia’s abundant biodiversity into the spotlight. Besides this, it is of utmost importance to rebuild the many old enclosures in the zoo in order to increase the overall welfare of the zoos animals. The old bear enclosure, which will be part of the ‘Large Bear Enclosure’ has been given natural substrate, safe hiding places and climbing structures, thus giving the bears the opportunity to develop their natural behaviour. The animal keepers have been thoroughly trained about taking proper care of bears. At the beginning of 2015, construction of the almost 6 hectare ‘LBE’ started. Many construction materials, such as mesh wire fences, power generators and electric fencing were donated with the help of Bears in Mind.
The Armenian ‘Large Bear Enclosure’ in Yerevan Zoo was finished in 2017 and several bears confiscated from restaurants and private ownership have been moved to their new home since then. In 2021, the LBE accommodated 16 bears and a pack of wolves.
According to non-official data around 60 brown bears used to be kept in miserable captive conditions throughout Armenia. Mainly in restaurants, petrol stations, private premises and factories. Since 2017, the FPWC, along with the responsible governmental bodies has confiscated and relocated around 32 bears out of 60 into Bear Rehabilitation Center, located in Ursadzor village of Ararat region, far from human settlements. The Center runs on donations, grants, as well as support of local and international community and cooperation. All of the rescued bears have a difficult background from their former captive situation and have suffered years of isolation in horrible conditions. Wrong diet & keeping conditions has led to issues with dentals, gastroenterological problems, arthritis, joint problems, as well as behavioral issues and stereotypic behavior. These bears require special veterinary care and monitoring of behavior to assess their rehab status and ensure welfare is guaranteed in the Center. Bears in Mind has provided funds to help FPWC improve their welfare at the Center.
In cooperation with Bears in Mind, Balkani Wildlife Society in Bulgaria visited & surveyed around seventy dancing bears, zoo bears and circus bears, starting from 1999. These bears were all given a microchip. Balkani Wildlife Society visited the captive bears on a regular basis and provided veterinary care where needed. During this period, the Belitza Dancing Bear Center was developed. In 2007 the last dancing bears were placed in this shelter.
In the 2000s, approximately 600 dancing bears were counted in India. By 2009 all were saved and relocated by Wildlife SOS, to their four dancing bear sanctuaries. This organization does not only save the bears, it also provided the former bear owners with an alternative livelihood. Bears in Mind supported Wildlife SOS in such projects.
Wildlife SOS dealt with the problem by addressing it at the source. As soon as an alert came in, about a dancing bear, the intervention team from Wildlife SOS and the responsible authorities rushed to the location. The bear was confiscated and the owner apprehended. Following this, a social program was started, in collaboration with the Indian government. The bear was the main source of income for these poor families of the Kalandar communities. Wildlife SOS helped the families to develop new means of income. The owner got 50,000 rupee for compensation, the children were sent to school and the owner was assisted in finding an alternative way to earn income for his family.
Since the end of 2009, no more bears danced the streets of India. Read more here:
Bears in Mind continues to help sanctuaries for the rehoming of abused and mistreated bears and supports education programs on the subject. For the rescue and rehabilitation (and permanent rehoming) of the bears in SE Asia, Bears in Mind supports Animals Asia Foundation.
In Vietnam a rescue centre was established (Tam Dao Bear Sanctuary) where Bears in Mind funded an education project for visitors of the centre to experience. In the China Bear Rescue Centre various so-called ‘bear dens’ were co-financed.
The latest contribution to Animals Asia was done in 2022, when Bears in Mind funded the salary for a year of two local staff members at the new-to-be-build sanctuary in Vietnam. This new sanctuary in Bach Ma National Park will become the home for the last 300+ bears from Vietnamese bear farms.
The primary goal of the educational project funded by Bears in Mind (2011-2012) was to increase awareness among school children and students about the situation in which captive bears in Thailand live. Staff members of the Wildlife Friends Foundation Thailand (WFFT) gave presentations at schools and universities on the abuse and mistreatment of bears. These presentations were supplemented with educational material in the form of a booklet (both in English and in Thai) describing the threat to and the ways to protect bears in Southeast Asia. The booklet provided examples of bears, which have been saved by the WFFT. It also further explains the welfare problems of bears living in captivity and provided general information about wild bears in Thailand.
The sanctuary Although mostly elephants, monkeys, crocodiles, snakes and orang-utans are used for human entertainment in Thailand, bears are often kept locked up in small cages in so-called zoos. Moreover, they are also kept illegally as pets. Small bear cubs look very cute when they are still young, however as they grow bigger they become aggressive, unmanageable and thus dangerous to people. Most bear owners end up dropping their ‘pets’ off at a temple or an animal sanctuary. Since its initiation, WFFT has rescued more than 1,500 animals, primarily monkeys (macaques, gibbons and langurs), tigers and bears (Asiatic black bears and Sun bears).
Especially zoos (in non-western countries where bears often still live in concrete-steel cages), governments and NGOs who want to start a large naturalistic bear enclosure or sanctuary, can enhance their knowledge by using the website: www.largebearenclosures.com It is a so-called ‘living’ document and is continually updated by using the feedback form experts in the field and experience of Bears in Mind staff.
The website is divided in three sections. The first part gives information about building a large naturalistic bear enclosure such as The Bear Forest, materials used and the design of the sanctuary (including vegetation, water management and dens). The second part focuses on managing such a big semi-natural enclosure. Aspects mentioned are among others feeding and husbandry, enrichment, education and research. In the third part extensive information on veterinary aspects regarding captive bears can be found. From castrations, parasites and anaesthesia to dental treatment. The practicality of the website ensures succesful keeping and treatment of bears with relatively basic tools.
THE WEBSITE IS CURRENTLY ‘UNDER CONSTRUCTION‘.
With financial help of Bears in Mind, four young Sloth bears were rescued and brought to the shelter of the Karuna Society for Animals and Nature (2009). The purpose of this organization is to provide a first and safe haven for the bears. The organization has close contact with the government and the larger rescue centers in India. Once there is permanent place for the bear(s), it will be moved to one of the specialized centers. Besides bears, the Karuna Society for Animals and Nature also rescues other (wild) animals. Animals are reintroduced back into the wild whenever this is possible. Bears however, have often been in contact with humans for too long and will become too habituated to people, making release in the wild impossible.
Three zoo bears were illegally released in the wild in Serbia in 2002 and one of them was a three-legged bear. This bear had attacked a farmer, who was able to catch the bear. Bears in Mind and Serbian NGO ‘ARKA’ were able to move the bear to the bear shelter in Banostor, Novi Sad. For the other two bears help came too late; hunters had already killed them.
The idea was to bring the 3-legged bear, named Elvis, to the Bear Forest in The Netherlands. In the end, Bears in Mind did not succeed in this. Obtaining the certificates of ownership and export permission (CITES) from Serbia proved impossible. To improve the welfare of Elvis and the other bears in the Banostor bear shelter, Bears in Mind financed the extension of the shelter. An outdoor enclosure was developed with a nice pond for the bears to swim in.
Elvis spent a happy time there, until he died in 2011.
Two circus bears were ‘rescued’ by a Spanish NGO and brought to their ‘sanctuary’ called El Arca de Noé near Benidorm. The female turned out to be pregnant and gave birth to two cubs. The bear family was confined to a small and filthy cage at the shelter and lived under dreadful conditions. The bears did not get proper food and water, and didn’t receive any vet care. Besides to the bears, many other ‘rescued’ animals were confined to a life of suffering.
Early in 2009, Bears in Mind received a Bear Alert about these bears. After a thorough preparation, the bears were rescued and transported to the Bear Forest in Rhenen, just before Christmas of 2009!
After the authorities closed-down the shelter, two dozen lions, tigers, jaguars, puma, leopards, smaller cat species, but also chimps needed a new home. Most were relocated to Spanish zoos or shelters, amongst them the Primadomus sanctuary operated by AAP.
A new life for the bear family In the Bear Forest the bears started a completely new life. First they had to stay in quarantaine to get used to their new surroundings and receive a complete medical check-up. The bears’ teeth were checked and treated. As a result of the horrible living conditions and bad food, their teeth were severely damaged, which meant that several teeth had te be extracted. Two bears received rootcanal treatments. The two older bears (Bruce & Ronja), one of them blind and one deaf, could succesfully be introduced in the Bear Forest in July 2010 where they truly enjoyed the space, the pond and the company of the other bears! The two young bears, Pepe and Pedro, were relocated to bear sanctuaries in Germany.
Unfortunately, old bear Bruce died in the summer of 2011. He had a fantastic year before he passed away. He loved swimming and played a lot with the other, much younger, bears of the Bear Forest, despite the fact that he was blind. Bear Ronja died at the end of 2012 due to a brain tumor.
Blind Bruce in his former prison…Bruce on the left and Duuk on the right.Ronja enjoying a bath in the pond of the Bear Forest.
Although brown bears are legally protected in Albania, many wild bears are poached and very little is done to control poaching activities. Keeping bears in captivity is also forbidden by law. However, research carried out by the local partner in Albania ‘PPNEA’ in 2014, indicated that a total of at least 41 bears are kept under sub-optimal conditions. Poor law enforcement as well as endemic corruption in the country have led to a further decline in the wild bear population. According to estimates by the LCIE (Large Carnivore Initiative for Europe) the wild bear population in Albania varies between 180 and 250 individuals (2016).
Reasons for keeping bears To unveil the motivations behind and actors involved in this phenomenon PPNEA (financially supported by Bears in Mind) undertook a quantitative survey with visitors of premises that hold bears in captivity and qualitative group interviews in rural areas that are known as hotspots of bears’ capture and trade. The results indicated that the motivation of the local rural population in capturing and selling bears is mainly economic (bear cubs sell for amounts between 250 – 600 EUR / individual). However the captures are done randomly or when the chance is given and that regular hunting / trapping for this sole purpose seems to be non-exitent. This suggests that this activity is not a major source of income for locals and captured brown bear cubs seem to be a side phenomenon that reflects the general problems of hunting management and law enforcement in the country. On the other hand, a more problematic issue is that there is a general interest to visit places where bears are exposed and the figures are frightening. Only 20% of respondents declared that they do not have any interest to visit a restaurant / cafe because of the bear presence. In addition there also exists a misconception among the population that the captive bears are a touristic asset for the country. The data shows that almost 70% of respondents believe that the bears in captivity attract tourists; this is a much higher figure if compared to 45% of those who believe that the bear in nature attract more tourists.
There is also a low awareness level among visitors in respect to the illegality of capturing / keeping bears in captivity and protection status of the animal. Only 35% of respondents were aware of some vague legal protection status. These misconceptions about captive bears are major drivers that help such illegal business to operate. Furthermore the attitudes of the public are hostile in terms of undertaking any action to stop the illegal practise of maintaining captive bears in restaurants: 54% of interviewed persons where against the elimination and 64% of them will do nothing to solve the problem.
The low level of awareness among the general public in Albania is holding back potential solutions to the bear issues in Albania. Therefore the gap in knowledge should be filled by an effectively organized public-awareness campaign and social mobilization should follow up to try to stop the influx of captive bears in restaurants which subsequently will improve the situation for the wild population.
Future It is unclear what will happen to the many captive bears in Albania in the near future. Bears in Mind and her partners keep pushing the government to act and start developing a sanctuary to accommodate all the bears, but until now these attempts have proven unsuccessful. Once new developments will arise, it will be published on our website. Over the past years, many captive bears have been relocated to sanctuaries and zoos outside of Albania, by a number of NGOs. This does not solve the problem and the government has to step up and take responsibility.
Update 2022 Over the past ten years, all captive bears used for entertainment (like the restaurant bears) have been relocated to foreign sanctuaries and zoos. Longterm plans by the Albanian government to set up their own bear sanctuary and take responsibility for their captive bear problem, failed.
