The bear will receive special care in Greece to prepare for rehabilitation back into the wild
A male bear cub that was found wandering around alone near the village of Kostenets in southwest Bulgaria last weekend has been given temporary shelter at the Belita Bear Sanctuary , which is run by global animal welfare organization FOUR PAWS in cooperation with Fondation Brigitte Bardot near Sofia.
Brown bear
Despite efforts of forestry officials to bring the bear back to the forest, he kept returning to the village. The cub was eventually captured and is safe after WWF Bulgaria, local authorities, forestry officials and FOUR PAWS intervened. The bear’s imminent transfer to a specialized brown bear rehabilitation center in Greece will prepare him for a later release back into the wild in Bulgaria.
FOUR PAWS was informed about a bear that was found motherless in a backyard in Kostenets and agreed to temporarily take the bear into its care at the Belita Bear Sanctuary. A team from WWF Bulgaria ensured his safe capture and transport to the sanctuary.
“For a rescue operation like this to go well, a quick response and teamwork are key. We found the bear in a tree and got it down with all safety measures. Although it weighed only a few kilograms, the task was not easy as the frightened animal was trying to bite and scratch.”
Bear rescue
“The ground around the tree was completely secured in case it lost its balance and fell. With the rescue of the bear, we demonstrated how important good cooperation is between NGOs and government institutions for the sake of nature conservation,” said Alexander Dutsov, senior expert at the Species Conservation Program and member of the WWF Bear Rescue Team, after the rescue.
The Belita sanctuary is the only place that provides a second chance and lifelong care for rescued captive brown bears. The little bear, estimated to be around four months old, is being fed with appropriate food and special care.
“From the moment of the bear’s arrival, an isolation protocol for the animal comes into effect. He is quite stressed and cries most of the time, but eats without problems and has no external injuries.”
“We already dewormed the young bear and performed a medical examination on site. The feeding protocol is for four times a day, with the food including special milk and fruit for the time being until the cub calms down, after which the diet will be varied,” says Dimitar Ivanov, Manager of the Belitsa Bear Sanctuary.
FOUR PAWS
Preparations are underway for the placement of the bear in the specialized brown bear rehabilitation center ARCTUROS in Greece. There, the bear should grow stronger and acquire the skills necessary to survive in the wild. Once the young bear is ready to return to the wild, FOUR PAWS will help with his transport to Greece.
“While our sanctuaries are not equipped to take in adult wild bears as they are built for the rescue of captive bears, we are glad to offer support in special cases like this. We believe that orphaned wild bear cubs should get a chance to be rehabilitated and brought back to the wild where they belong. For this, we rely on expert partners like ARCTUROS and the Bulgarian authorities. We thank them for the good cooperation and look forward to seeing this cub released back into the wild,” said Barbara van Genne, Director of the Wild Animal department at FOUR PAWS.
Rehabilitation
Two similar actions involving bear cubs were carried out in Bulgaria 2019 and 2022, when experts from FOUR PAWS, ARCTUROS Brown bear rehabilitation center and sanctuary in Greece, the Bulgarian Ministry of Environment and Water, WWF Bulgaria, as well as regional stakeholders successfully returned a total of six bears into the wild.
The 12-hectare Bear Sanctuary is located in the Rila Mountains, southwest Bulgaria, and is the only sanctuary in Bulgaria that provides a second chance and lifelong care to rescued brown bears. It was opened in 2000 and is a cooperation project between FOUR PAWS and the Fondation Brigitte Bardot.
Dancing bears
Most of the bears in this sanctuary were former ‘dancing bears’ from Bulgaria, as well as some from Serbia and Albania. In addition to them, bears from other various forms of poor captivity have also found a lifelong home there.
Currently, 18 rescued bears live in species-appropriate, spacious enclosures with dense forests and ponds at the sanctuary.
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