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

Bear Kassandra in the bear sanctuary

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 and were used to attract visitors. 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.

The bear couple Ero and Mira playing. Both animals were rescued from the restaurant Te ariu in Prishtina

Foundation

The Bear Sanctuary Prishtina was founded in 2013 by Four Paws Austria in collaboration with KFOR, the city of Prishtina, the Ministry of Environment and Spatial Planning of Kosovo and the law firm Franke & Partner.

The Bears

The Bear Sanctuary Prishtina has currently 13 brown bears (as of July 2013). 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.

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

Facilities

The sanctuary is built on an area of fifteen hectares.

External links

• Four Paws: project Bear Sanctuary Prishtina