Bear Sanctuary Prishtina
The Bärenwald Pristina is a bear sanctuary in Kosovo about seven kilometers east of the city of Pristina.
Background
For many years there were no regulations in Kosovo for the keeping of brown bears. Thus, the animals could be kept private. Mostly bears were kept in small cages restaurants to attract visitors. In November 2010, the ban on the private bear-keeping came into force in Kosovo, there was a need for a habitat for the coming of the restaurant attitude bears. A species-appropriate habitat was provided to enforce the law, since the animals can not be reintroduced. In Bärenwald Pristina, the bears can rediscover their instincts and their natural behavior.
The Park
Foundation
The Bärenwald Pristina was founded on the initiative of Four Paws in 2013 in cooperation with KFOR, the city of Pristina, the Ministry of Environment of the State of Kosovo and the law firm Franke & Partner in Munich. Patrons of the bear forest include the Kosovar Minister of the Environment Dardan Gashi and the Austrian Ambassador couple at Kosovo, Roswitha and Johann Brieger.
The Bears
In Bärenwald Pristina live (as of 2013) is currently 13 brown bears. All these animals were illegally held in mostly very small mesh cages and placed in the bear park in early summer 2013.
The bear Kassandra comes from a derelict restaurant on Dulje Pass, where she was detained without water, food or protection from the weather. The two -year-old siblings Ari and Arina come from a restaurant in Prizren, where a small zoo was attached. The female bears Nala and Lena come from a restaurant in germini Park of Prishtina. The two seven -year-old male bears Vini and Stivi come from a hotel - restaurant in the Rugova Gorge near Peja, the smaller bear Stivi is half blind. The 15 -month-old, underdeveloped bear Hope comes from a restaurant in Peja. The five bears Anik, Ero, Mira, Hana and time come from another restaurant in Prishtina.
Two Bears Restaurant, Rambo and Luta, could not be free, because they were killed immediately before the police access from animal traders to remove them the gallbladder and thus still make a profit. The police operation to free the 13 bears in the park ended de facto private bear farming in Kosovo.
Plant
The park covers several hundred square meter acclimatization enclosure. The construction of a large outdoor enclosure is planned. Presumably the 13 bears will be a living space of up to 15 hectares available from October 2013.
In addition, apart from the enhanced enclosure is a new training center will be built to increase awareness among the population in Kosovo to protect the environment. It was already mentioned, to expand the bear forest in a zoo.
Objectives
Some bears have formed during the long years of their captivity severe behavioral problems that place them under the new conditions of life only gradually. For this, their habitat is enriched to promote their natural behavior ( behavioral and environmental enrichment ).
The aim is to create conditions for the animals, which are based on her life in the wild. For example, the food is hidden, so that the bears a large part of their time engaged in foraging, as in the wild.