2023-05-18 07:52:00
The idea of creating a reserve belongs to the German lawyer and TV presenter Andreas Grasmüller from Munich. In 1993, he founded the Union for the Protection of Animals, whose goal was to create shelters that are most suitable for every species: from abandoned domestic and agricultural animals to wild animals.
When Grasmuller accidentally saw a performance involving a circus bear with a ring in his nose, who was forced to walk on hot tar, he decided to found center-reserve for the rescue of bears. In Bavaria, near Bad Füssing, he bought a plot of land that previously belonged to the German Bundeswehr. Special electric fences were installed there, and abandoned ammunition storage bunkers were converted into winter enclosures. Already in 2004, the first bear named Franzi settled in the reserve. The shelter is funded through donations, grants and sponsorship.
bear paradise
The stories of each guest are very sad. So, the rescued bears Aurora and Ledia lived in Albania in a nine-meter cage with a concrete floor. Bear Tibor came from Spain, where he performed in the circus. Lyme from Lithuania lived for many years in a cage near a hotel and restaurant, where guests poured beer on her and fed her alcohol-soaked buns. In Bad Füssing, she befriended Ben the bear, who was taken to the nature reserve in 2016.
By nature, bears are travelers, therefore, in captivity, they need the opportunity to move freely. In the Bavarian shelter, each clubfoot has about 7,000 square meters. Here they can live outdoors, feel the change of seasons, learn to forage for their own food, prepare their own den for the winter, simply “become bears again,” says conservationist Christoph Denk.
Clash of people and nature
The current chairman of the society, the lawyer Arpád von Gaal, wants to save the bear Gaia, accused of attacking and killing a man. On April 5, 2023, 26-year-old Andrea Papi was attacked and killed while jogging on a forest path near his village in the Trentino region of northern Italy. The runner suffered fatal neck and head injuries.
Trentino region president Maurizio Fugatti said footprints of a bear identified as “JJ4” were found at the scene. Then the animal was caught by foresters and taken to a specialized institution for overexposure until a court decision was made.
At the same time, he claims that Gaia is not guilty of the attack. The association submitted to the court an expert opinion from two veterinarians, which states that it was not a female bear that attacked the deceased, but an adult male.
Of course, the death of a young man shocked the inhabitants of the region and sparked debate about whether to reduce the number of bears (today there are about a hundred bears in Trentino) through shooting and relocation.
In its turn Bavarian Environment Agency (LfU) emphasizes that in the wild, bears are extremely cautious and avoid contact with people. They come close to settlements only if they know that food can be obtained there. That is why it is impossible to feed bears in any case. The diet of wild bears is vegetarian, they especially like fruits and honey.
So, in the menu of bears from the reserve, meat is only 20 percent. In the wild, these animals can be dangerous, especially when they have cubs, says Christoph Denk. People need to learn again to be attentive and “not to go into their own thoughts in headphones while jogging” through the forest. In areas where many bears live, it is better to leave the territory to nature, the animal rights activist muses.
Hope of salvation
Until now, the administration of the province of Trentino twice advocated the euthanasia of the bear, and both times this requirement was rejected by the court. The next hearing in Gaia’s case is scheduled for the end of May.
If her right to life can be defended and transported to Bad Füssing, then she will first have to spend six weeks in quarantine, and then move to an acclimatization enclosure. If the bear likes the company of her relatives, Gaia will be able to move in with one of them. “It’s more accurate to tell by eye contact,” says Denk.
Thus, Gaia will be the first animal from the wild to find a new home in the Center.
See also:
#Bears #tortured #humans #rescued #Germany