site.btaBulgarian Four Paws Team Helps Confiscate Last Three Circus Bears in Serbia

Bulgarian Four Paws Team Helps Confiscate Last Three Circus Bears in Serbia

Sofia, November 3 (BTA) - A team of the animal rescue organization "Four Paws" has helped Serbian authorities confiscate the last circus bears in that country. One of them is expected to be sent to the 'Dancing Bears' park near Belitsa (Southwestern Bulgaria), the organization said.

Two of the confiscated brown bears, brother and sister at about 12 years, were housed by the Belgrade Zoo and the third, a ten-year-old cross between a brown and a polar bear was relocated to the zoo near the border with Hungary, in the town of Palic. After the relevant administrative procedure they are expected to be relocated to the bear parks in Mueritz (Germany) and Belitsa.

A ban on using wild animals in performances has been in force in Serbia since 2009 but the owner of Corona Circus from the Serbian town of Surbobran somehow managed to maintain his menagerie of 24 wild animals. A large number of them were not discovered at the moment of confiscation, "Four Paws" said.

The "Four Paws" team anesthetized the three bears and checked their general condition. All bears were vaccinated against rabies and were marked.

Although it does not have an office in Serbia, "Four Paws" has been helping the animals in Bulgaria's western neighbor for years, the organization said.