TIRANA, Dec 7 (Reuters) – Mendacity in his cage close to a busy Tirana highway, Mark the brown bear nibbles listlessly at a pile of bread and lettuce as, simply past the bars which have stored him captive for greater than 20 years, a cat shares in his frugal meal.
Mark is the final of dozens of bears held in such circumstances outdoors Albanian eating places as a way of attracting and amusing visitors, says the charity that’s about to rescue him.
“When (we) began …in 2016 there have been greater than 30 bears stored in small cages,” mentioned Magdalena Scherk Trettin, from 4 Paws Worldwide, previous to administering a robust sedative to Mark in preparation for the lengthy journey to the Austrian sanctuary that the Vienna-based world organisation runs.
When Mark arrived on the Sofra e Ariut (Bear’s Desk) restaurant he was only a cub, mentioned Scherk Trettin, estimating him to have been born in 1998.
The restaurant modified fingers a yr in the past, and its new homeowners selected handy him over and plan to dismantle his cage – to the displeasure of a minimum of considered one of their workers.
“Right this moment I’m not feeling good as a result of they’re taking the bear away. We’ve got been used to residing with (him),” mentioned Misir Maxhuku, whose duties have included caring for Mark for the previous 4 years.
4 Paws says insufficient laws means bears and different wild animals stay prone to being abused as pets or vacationer points of interest in Albania, the place has rescued 11 different bears.
It has additionally saved 16 in neighbouring Kosovo, the place it operates a second sanctuary.
Specialists say that, throughout the Western Balkans, numbers of bears within the wild have fallen drastically previously twenty years following the destruction of their habitat and unlawful looking.
Reporting by Fatos Bytyci; enhancing by John Stonestreet
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