Bear forest Pristina

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Brown bear Kassandra in an enclosure in the bear forest

The Bear Sanctuary Pristina (own name Bear Sanctuary Prishtina ; Albanian  Pylli i Arinjeve Prishtina ) is a bear enclosure in Kosovo around eight kilometers as the crow flies east of the city of Pristina .

history

background

For many years there were no regulations for keeping brown bears in Kosovo . So the animals could be kept privately. Most of the time, bears were kept in small cages in restaurants to attract visitors. When the ban on private bear keeping came into force in Kosovo in November 2010, there was a need for a habitat for the bears that were kept in restaurants. A species-appropriate habitat was a prerequisite for enforcing the law, as the animals were not released into the wild. In the Bear Forest Pristina the bears can rediscover their instincts and their natural behavior.

The bear couple Ero and Mira. Both animals come from the Te ariu restaurant in Pristina

founding

The Bear Forest Pristina was founded in 2013 on the initiative of Vier Pfoten in cooperation with KFOR , the city of Pristina, the Ministry of the Environment of the State of Kosovo and the Franke & Partner law firm in Munich. Patrons of the bear forest include the Kosovar Environment Minister Dardan Gashi and the Austrian ambassador couple in Kosovo, Roswitha and Johann Brieger.

The Bears

In 2017, 19 brown bears lived in the bear forest of Pristina. The animals were kept illegally in mostly very small lattice cages and brought to the bear park in early summer 2013. Later three brown bears from Albania were added.

The bear Kassandra comes from an abandoned restaurant on the Dulje Pass, where she was locked in without water, food or protection from the weather. The two ten-year-old siblings Ari and Arina come from a restaurant in Prizren to which a small zoo was attached. The female bears Nala and Lena come from a restaurant in Pristina's Gërmia Park . The two seven-year-old male bears Vini and Stivi come from a hotel restaurant in the Rugova Gorge near Peja , with the smaller bear Stivi being half-blind. The 15-month-old, underdeveloped bear Hope comes from a restaurant in Peja. The five bears Anik , Ero , Mira , Hana and Mal come from another restaurant in Pristina.

Two restaurant bears, Rambo and Luta , could not be freed because they were killed by animal dealers just before the police attacked them in order to remove their gall bladder and thus make a profit. The police intervention to free the 13 bears in the park de facto ended private bear keeping in Kosovo.

investment

Overview of parts of the system

The park is located 20 kilometers by road from Prishtina , near the villages of Mramor and Busia . It was created in the forest on the north bank of Lake Badovac .

At the beginning, the park consists of an acclimatization enclosure several hundred square meters in size and four outdoor enclosures. In 2014 there were ten enclosures with caves and ponds as well as a bear house on an area of ​​five hectares.

In the summer of 2018 an environmental education center was opened with the subjects of the environment, nature and wildlife.

In addition, a new training center is to be built next to the expanded enclosure in order to raise awareness of environmental protection among the people in Kosovo.

aims

Some bears have developed severe behavioral disorders during the long years of their captivity, which they only gradually dispose of under the new living conditions. For this, their living space is enriched in order to promote their natural behavior (Behavioral and Environmental Enrichment) .

The aim is to create conditions for the animals that are based on their life in the wild. For example, the food is hidden so that the bears spend a large part of their time looking for food, just like in the wild.

Another goal is to raise awareness by allowing visitors to see the bears in their natural environment and learn more about these and other animal species.

See also

Web links

Commons : Bear Sanctuary Prishtina  - Collection of Pictures, Videos and Audio Files

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ a b c Christiane Flechtner: Hell was yesterday. In: The North Berliner . June 21, 2013, archived from the original on August 21, 2013 ; Retrieved August 21, 2013 .
  2. ↑ Hope for the bears in Kosovo at last! In: Respect Animals. June 13, 2011, accessed August 19, 2013 .
  3. ↑ a b c Rescue of the restaurant bears in Kosovo decided. In: openPR. Franke & Partner, August 21, 2013, accessed on August 21, 2013 .
  4. ↑ a b Vier Pfoten - Foundation for Animal Welfare: Annual Report 2017 . Vienna 2017, p. 14 ( 4-paws.org [PDF; accessed November 5, 2018]).
  5. ↑ a b c d News: Emergency rescue operation in Kosovo. In: Strong paws. Archived from the original on September 9, 2017 ; Retrieved August 19, 2013 .
  6. ↑ "Prishtina Bear Forest officially opened". In: vier-pfoten.de. June 2, 2015, archived from the original on July 30, 2017 ; Retrieved June 2, 2015 .
  7. ↑ Four Paws - Foundation for Animal Welfare: Annual Report 2014 . Zurich 2014, p. 15 ( vier-pfoten.ch [PDF; accessed on November 5, 2018]).
  8. ↑ Four Paws - Foundation for Animal Welfare: Annual Report 2017 . Vienna 2017, p. 16 ( 4-paws.org [PDF; accessed November 5, 2018]).

Coordinates: 42 ° 38 ′ 17 ″  N , 21 ° 15 ′ 36 ″  E