Armenia: 3 caged brown bears have been rescued by the authorities from a restaurant that used the poor animals as a tourist attraction.

The bears were left alone due to the coronavirus.

Authorities had to carry out an emergency rescue operation after the owner of the restaurant claimed that they no longer had any use for the bears.

The owner of the restaurant also said that they could not afford to feed the animals.

After getting to know about the 3 unwanted bears, International Animal Rescue (IAR) and Armenian partners Foundation for the Preservation of Wildlife and Cultural Assets (FPWC) carried out an emergency operation.

The operation was done to rescue the 3 caged bears.

The 3 bears consist of a 20-year-old female bear and her 2 5-year-old sons.

Alan Knight, the head of the International Animal Rescue, said:

The lockdown in Armenia has left restaurants without food or funds to feed their bears and so now the owners are happy for us to take them off their hands. Our bear rescue centre is close to capacity but we are making space to accommodate these poor animals while we also work on plans to expand our facilities. Now the bears are in our care, we can at least give them adequate food and any treatment they need to improve their health. Further down the line, once out of quarantine, they will be given freedom to enjoy fresh air and exercise in a natural environment. Their lives can only get better from here on in.

Ruben Khachatryan, the man that led the rescue team and the head of the Foundation for the Preservation of Wildlife and Cultural Assets, said:

I’m glad to say that everything went smoothly with the rescue operation. There is always an element of risk when anaesthetising any animal and when you are dealing with three wild bears in a small space, you have to plan everything carefully beforehand – and have a contingency plan in case anything should go wrong. Fortunately, it all went without a hitch. It’s a relief finally to have those bears safely in our care. We are extremely grateful to the Armenian government for its support for the Great Bear Rescue campaign and also to the Ministry of Environment and RA Police for their help with the rescue operation.

Alan Knight said that the deadly pandemic has created a positive outcome for caged bears.

He also pointed out the fact that there are a lot of bears that are living in dreadful conditions.

Talking about how people can help rescue caged bears, Knight said:

However, we can’t forget that there are still many more living in dreadful conditions. We are only able to help these bears because of the kindness and generosity of our supporters. Now we need public support more than ever so that we can push ahead with the rescue operations and end their misery as quickly as possible.

Let’s all hope that more animals get released and rescued.