A four-month-old cub is snatched from its mother
to be sold into the tourist trade
June 28, 2012
A Ukrainian zoo has been filmed illegally selling a bear cub to animal traders.
The four-month-old bear cub, called Nastia, was snatched from her mother at the Lutsk zoo in the Volyn province. She was then brutally forced into a transport box and taken away by car. Throughout the ordeal, the bear cub screamed and tried to resist, while her mother frantically ran around her cage.
The incident was caught on camera by animal welfare charity Four Paws.
It said that an animal trader has bought Nastia, most likely for use as a 'photo bear' in the tourist trade.
A Ukrainian zoo has been filmed illegally selling a bear cub to animal traders.
The four-month-old bear cub, called Nastia, was snatched from her mother at the Lutsk zoo in the Volyn province. She was then brutally forced into a transport box and taken away by car. Throughout the ordeal, the bear cub screamed and tried to resist, while her mother frantically ran around her cage.
The incident was caught on camera by animal welfare charity Four Paws.
It said that an animal trader has bought Nastia, most likely for use as a 'photo bear' in the tourist trade.
“These are the most shocking pictures I have seen in my long career in animal welfare”, says Amir Khalil, head of the FOUR PAWS project in Ukraine, which also addresses the stray dog issue as well as abused bears.
“It is not just the brutality that was applied that demonstrates the inhumanity seen in this video. A baby bear in the wild usually stays with their mother for two years. When taken away from her too early, the cub remains traumatised and suffers from a lack of real socialisation.”
FOUR PAWS has been working tirelessly to locate Nastia. She is now a victim of ruthless animal traders and will be abused as a so called „photo bear“. She will be put on a lead and placed in front of tourists who want to have photos with her. If Nastia is not rescued she will lead a sad and tormented life as a tourist attraction.
Selling animals from zoos to private buyers is illegal in Ukraine. Amir Khalil says: “We urge the Ukrainian government to immediately confiscate the young bear. There’s no time to lose. This mother and child need to be reunited as quickly as possible. We are at the full disposal of the authorities and need to establish a home for both bears, appropriate for the species.”
There are more than 80 brown bears living in horrific captive conditions across Ukraine. They are living in small cages next to restaurants, hotels or petrol stations and have to perform tricks to entertain tourists or have to drink alcohol. Together with the Ukrainian authorities, FOUR PAWS has in the last few months already rescued four bears that had to live in terrible conditions.
While the youngster is screaming, the mother bear is shown racing around the cage and throwing herself at the metal mesh in a bid to get back to her cub.
The cub is then pushed down into a wooden box still shrieking - and it is nailed shut with a wire cover.
The baby's mother frantically ran around her cage during the snatch.
The cub is then pushed down into a wooden box still shrieking - and it is nailed shut with a wire cover.
The baby's mother frantically ran around her cage during the snatch.
The brutal business of trading animals:
Female bears are used as baby producers
Nastia’s mother Masha is the second victim of ruthless greed
Update July 1st., 2012 by Four Paws:
We all feel for Nastia who was snatched away from her mother. The young cub is still traumatized – as the FOUR PAWS video shockingly reveals. However, there is another victim in this story: It’s Nastia’s mother, Masha.
As the director of Lutsk zoo says bluntly in an interview, female bears are regarded as mere baby producers. In the wild a female bear only gives birth every three years and remains with her cubs for two years. The bears in Lutsk are forced to have babies every year due so that profits can be made with the offspring. The consequence is not only that, as the zoo director confirms, females have health problems and are simply worn out, but they also have to watch powerlessly as their children are taken away far too early. This causes extreme psychological distress and leads to constant mourning, year after year.
Masha, Nastia’s mother, can clearly be seen panicking as her baby is torn away from her in the FOUR PAWS video. We can only imagine what she’s going through. As with humans and many other mammals, the maternal instinct is very strong in bears, and losing their baby can cause great damage to their psychological health. To suffer a loss of a baby every year is something nobody would want to experience.
As mentioned above: There are two victims in this story – we must not and shall not forget this. FOUR PAWS will do everything it can to ensure a reunion between Nastia and Masha.
Text: Four Paws