IN PICTURE. Last “restaurant bear” from Albania transferred to reserve in Austria after more than 20 years in captivity | Animals

For years, so-called restaurant bears were kept in small cages in Albania near restaurants and hotels for the entertainment of tourists, the animal rights organization explains. In 2016, the NGO launched their ‘Saddest Bears’ campaign, aiming to free and relocate Albania’s then-more than 30 restaurant bears. Now they have saved the last bear.

The 24-year-old bear Mark is, as far as known, the very last restaurant bear in Albania, says Four Paws. Until last week he was in a cage at a restaurant somewhere in the capital Tirana. Unfortunately, there are still bears kept in captivity in poor conditions in Albania, either as pets or as a tourist attraction. After all, it’s still legal in the country to keep a bear privately — if the animal was born in captivity and certain other conditions are met, the organization complains.

But Mark is now heading into a whole new life, and that’s great. He was taken out of his cage at the restaurant last Wednesday, December 7, and arrived Friday at his brand new home in Austria’s specialized ‘Bärenwald Arbesbach’. The restaurant owner voluntarily surrendered Mark to members of Four Paws and has agreed in black and white that his restaurant will never suffer from bears again. The demolition of the cage where Mark was sitting would have already started.

Because the bear spent 20 years in a cage that was much too small with concrete floors and was not adequately cared for, the animal has several health problems. Mark is overweight, has several broken teeth and exhibited abnormal behavior in Tirana such as chewing on the metal bars of his cage and repetitively getting off the same loop. That’s due to a lack of exercise and stimulation in his cramped enclosure. Furthermore, Mark had no place to be quietly alone and he has never been able to hibernate.

It is clear that the colossus urgently needs better care. Fortunately, after a health check by vets, he turned out to be fit enough to handle the long journey to his better home. Last week, the brown bear embarked on the thrilling 44-hour journey that took it through North Macedonia, Greece, Bulgaria, Romania and Hungary before finally reaching the bear sanctuary in Austria.

According to the animal organization, the anesthesia to remove Mark from his cage and the subsequent journey was “calm and relaxed”. “We made regular breaks along the way to check he was okay and gave him fruits and veggies on a regular basis,” said a Four Paws rescue coordinator.

“This bear ate a completely wrong diet of restaurant leftovers and especially stale bread for two decades,” the coordinator says. “He didn’t really like the vegetables at first, but he happily ate the grapes we gave him.”

In Arbesbach, Mark will stay in a beautiful nature reserve of 14,000 square meters, together with three other rescued bears. The bear reserve is located in the Austrian region ‘Waldviertel’ (‘Forest District’), known for its untouched nature. The reserve is therefore the perfect place for bears to fully express their natural behavior, such as bathing, digging, roaming, climbing and hiding, either to seek seclusion, to take a nice nap or to hibernate.

Mark was greeted by a snowy landscape upon arrival in Austria. It took him a while to explore after the door of the box in which he had been transported was opened. After 20 years in a cage with concrete as a substrate, the bear clearly took some getting used to feeling normal soil under its paws. He quietly and timidly surveyed everything from inside the coffin at first, before finally taking his first steps into his new life, much to the delight of all who watched with bated breath.

Because it is so exciting for the loebas to end up in a whole new world, it is important that the introduction in Austria proceeds smoothly. That is why Mark first temporarily stays in a smaller, closed part of the reserve. Later he moves to the large area where the three other bears also live.

“It was a great and emotional moment for the whole team,” says the director of Four Paws Austria about the moment Mark came out of his box. “During the journey he gave us our first glimpse of his beautiful character and we can’t wait to see him develop further. We are happy for him that everything can now go smoothly in the snowy Waldviertel.”

With Mark’s rescue, the life of the bear itself looks better, but it also ends the sad chapter of captive restaurant bears in Albania, according to Four Paws. “This is an important milestone for wildlife welfare in Southeastern Europe!”

The project coordinator adds that “no individual should be allowed to keep a bear or other wild animal”. “A complete ban on this is the only solution to prevent the exploitation and suffering of these animals. Our work in Albania is far from over.”