Bear Sanctuary Prishtina

The Bear Sanctuary Prishtina is a national park in Kosovo in close proximity to the city of Prishtina.


Background

For many years, there was no law against keeping brown bears in Kosovo. All privately kept brown bears lived in small cages at restaurants. They were born mostly in the forests of Kosovo or Albania and snatched from their mothers by animal dealers. As restaurant bears they were supposed to attract customers, and thus profit, for their owners. In November 2010, when it became illegal to keep bears privately, there was a need for a national park as a new home for the restaurant bears rescued from captivity.[1]

The Park

Foundation

The Bear Sanctuary Prishtina was founded in 2013 by Four Paws Austria in collaboration with KFOR, the City of Prishtina, the Kosovar Ministry of Environment and the law firm Franke & Partner.[2] The sanctuary provides species-appropriate accommodation for all restaurant bears in large enclosures resembling the bears’ natural habitat Among the patrons of the park are in particular the Kosovar Minister of Environment Dr. Dardan Gashi, the Austrian ambassador in Kosovo Dr. Johann Brieger and Roswitha Brieger.[3]

The bears

The Bear Sanctuary Prishtina has currently in care 20 brown bears (as of January 2020). These ‘restaurant bears’ had been tracked down and registered by the government of Kosovo during the last few years and have been rescued in 2013.[4]

Two restaurant bears, named Rambo and Luta, could not be saved, because their proprietors killed the bears only hours before the rescue team arrived.[5]

Facilities

The sanctuary is built on an area of sixteen hectares. In addition to the existing facilities, a new environmental education center "Thesaret e Natyrës" is opened in 2018 in order to improve the public attention to animal welfare and environmental issuess in Kosovo.[3]

References
  1. http://www.balkaninsight.com/en/article/captive-brown-bears-gain-fresh-start
  2. "Finally hope for the brown bears in Kosovo!". RespekTiere. 2011-06-13. Retrieved 2013-08-19.
  3. "Remaining restaurant bears in Kosovo have been rescued" (PDF). openPR. Retrieved 2013-08-21.
  4. "Rescue of brown bears in Kosovo". Archived from the original on 2013-12-07. Retrieved 2013-08-19.
  5. Emergency Bear Rescue by Four Paws

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