A brown bear family which was kept in captivity for years in a defunct hotel in Ukraine was rescued and brought to a bear sanctuary by activists from the global animal welfare organisation FOUR PAWS.
Brown bear couiple Sirko, 13, and his partner Ruta, 13, with their 5-month-old cub Andor were freed from an inactive hotel and restaurant in the town of Skole located in western Ukraine and transferred to the Bear Sanctuary Domazhyr near the city of Lviv on 22nd June.
The adult bears were initially purchased by their former owners and locked in a private mini zoo near the hotel to serve as entertainment for guests and to attract more visitors.
A brown bear family which was kept in captivity for years in a defunct hotel in Ukraine was rescued and brought to a bear sanctuary by activists from the global animal welfare organisation FOUR PAWS
Brown bear couiple Sirko, 13, and his partner Ruta, 13, with their 5-month-old cub Andor were freed from an inactive hotel and restaurant in the town of Skole located in western Ukraine and transferred to the Bear Sanctuary Domazhyr near the city of Lviv on 22nd June
The adult bears were initially purchased by their former owners and locked in a private mini zoo near the hotel to serve as entertainment for guests and to attract more visitors
All bears have spent most of their lives in a concrete enclosure, underfed and unable to express their natural behaviour
Their cute cub Andor was hand-raised by the owners after it was born in January 2021, since the private keeping of bears remains legal in the country despite appeals directed towards the Ukrainian authorities to ban private breeding and keeping of bears in cruel conditions.
According to FOUR PAWS all three bears have spent most of their lives in a concrete enclosure, underfed and unable to express their natural behaviour.
Vet Marc Golkel from the Leibniz Institute for Zoo and Wildlife Research who examined all three bears on-site told Newsflash: 'Sirko and Ruta have dental problems which will be treated once they have adjusted to their new surroundings. Sirko will then also be neutered.'
Their cute cub Andor was hand-raised by the owners after it was born in January 2021, since the private keeping of bears remains legal in the country despite appeals directed towards the Ukrainian authorities to ban private breeding and keeping of bears in cruel conditions
According to FOUR PAWS all three bears have spent most of their lives in a concrete enclosure, underfed and unable to express their natural behaviour
Vet Marc Golkel from the Leibniz Institute for Zoo and Wildlife Research who examined all three bears on-site told Newsflash: 'Sirko and Ruta have dental problems which will be treated once they have adjusted to their new surroundings
Sirko, Ruta and Andor were rescued from a defunct hotel and restaurant in the town Skole in Ukraine
Regarding the youngest one of the three he added: 'Andor's health seems to be in good condition. We plan to microchip, vaccinate and deworm him after his arrival at the bear sanctuary, so he can grow up to become a healthy bear.'
After they arrive at the FOUR PAWS Bear Sanctuary Domazhyr, Sirko and Ruta will be released into a spacious forest enclosure after they go through an adaptation period.
According to the welfare organisation since Andor was
