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A Paradise for Bears
DANCING BEARS PARK Belitsa, was founded in year 2000
by VIER PFOTEN. Although the training of these animals to become dancing
bears has been prohibited in the country since 1998, in May 2007 there
were still three registered dancing bears held in captivity.
We are happy that in June 2007 these three bears are
rescued in our park in Belitsa. Officially these were the three last
dancing bears in Bulgaria!
The park itself
The DANCING BEARS PARK in Belitsa provides these
animals with an environment that is natural and suited to their species.
The largest bear sanctuary of its type in Europe - DANCING BEARS PARK
Belitsa is located in the Rila Mountain about 180 km south of Sofia.
After the expansion work in 2003 to 2004, now it
covers over 120,000 sq.m. of natural terrain. VIER PFOTEN gained an
important ally when the Foundation Brigitte Bardot joined in the
project’s financing in May 2000.
The bear sanctuary is divided into seven wide sectors
that provide the former dancing bears with closest to the nature living
environment. It offers to its’ inhabitants dense forests and hills for
walk, digging and privacy, meadows and specially designed sunny places
for rest, large pools for swimming and dens for hibernation.
The DANCING BEARS PARK Information Center has a
terrace from which visitors can look at the entire area. It is planned
to use it as a venue for lectures and discussions as well. The
Information Center also houses a medical center for bears’ vet care and
treatment, equipped with scientific and medical equipment.
Inhabitants of DBP
Twenty-four bears live in the DANCING BEARS PARK. We would like to introduce to you three of them: Violeta, Dobri and Gosho.
Violeta is always in motion and she enjoys her life
in the DANCING BEARS PARK Belitsa. Because of a skin disease, Violeta
has some hairless spots. This disease is the result of long-term abuse
and underfeeding. We are very happy that Violeta’s health and fur have
been getting better and better since she was rescued by VIER PFOTEN.
Even though Dobri is blind, he enjoys wandering
around in the area, looking for food, and lying under the trees. He
spends his nights in the den. He has dark brown fur, and he enjoys
sleeping very much.
Gosho lives with a bear called Mariana. They
understand and get along with each other very well. Gosho has gained
approximately 50 kg since he was rescued by VIER PFOTEN, and he is
currently in his best shape. He is the largest member of DANCING BEARS
PARK Belitsa, and he enjoys swimming in the ponds in the area. In the
warmer seasons this large bear likes sleeping in the shadows of the
forest and lying down on his back.
Dancing bears’ background
Bear cubs are separated from their mother at 7-month
age and are subjected to cruel training. First step towards slavery is
piercing of the nose and upper lip and fixing a ring with chain. Then
the bear cub’s nails and cuspids are cut in order not to hurt his owner.
Put on a hot iron plate, with his paws greased with Vaseline and under
musical accompaniment, the animal “dances” trying to avoid the
unbearable pain. Therefore, during his whole life when the bear hear
sound of rebeck, it repeats these particular movements as reminiscence
of previous pain.
Bear behavior
As bears in the wild spend most of the day looking
for food, our bear keepers hide the animals’ food throughout the entire
enclosure so that the animals are occupied as they would be in the
nature. We are very glad that almost all the bears rescued by FOUR PAWS
and the Brigitte Bardot Foundation hibernated in winter for the first
time in their life in the park, just as they would have done if they had
grown up in the wild. For hibernation they use the constructed dens or
dug their own in the forest.
info from: www.banskotouristinformation.com
