All species of bears are threatened by illegal trade for their parts, used as trophies, for consumption and for use in traditional medicines. The experts at Monitor Conservation Research Society (Monitor) have carried out research and enforcement support to counter the illegal trade in bears, especially, but not limited to, Asia, over the past few decades. One of the greatest obstacles in countering the illegal international trade in bear parts and derivatives is the lack of effective use of the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES). With 185 members, CITES is the world’s leading convention in place to regulate and control the international trade in wildlife – including all eight species of bears. Conf. 10.8 (Rev. CoP14) in 2007, noted that
“the continued illegal trade in parts and derivatives of bear species undermines the effectiveness of the Convention and that if CITES Parties and States not-party do not take action to eliminate such trade, poaching may cause declines of wild bears that could lead to the extirpation of certain populations or even species”
and recognised that
“long-term solutions for the protection and conservation of bears require the adoption of substantive and measurable actions.” It further urged parties to carry out a number of actions and recommended that Parties “review and strengthen measures, where necessary, to enforce the provisions of the Convention relating to specimens of species included in Appendices I and II, where bear parts and derivatives are concerned and further that Parties and States not-party, as a matter of urgency, address the issue of illegal trade in bear parts and derivatives.”
Monitor has found that at least some Parties to the Convention involved in illegal and/or unsustainable trade in bear parts and derivatives have not taken significant actions to address this problem or to follow up on the recommendations of Conf. 10.8 (Rev. CoP14). There has been no systematic review of the actions taken by Parties on this matter and therefore no accountability. The team has secured funds from Bears in Mind to allow them, working with partners, to investigate this issue and to carry out a review of actions prior to the coming Conference of the Parties of CITES, which will be held in Uzbekistan in November 2025.
We believe that the effective implementation of Conf. 10.8 (Rev. CoP14), and the continued monitoring of progress on this issue is absolutely essential to making CITES an effective tool for bear conservation and that the lack of implementation not only undermines the Convention but also undermines efforts and opportunities to ensure international illegal and unsustainable trade is not a threat the conservation of bears.
On this page, the latest bear rescue mission will be published.
June 3, 2025 – Bears Alu & Balu from Azerbaijan
For more than 1,5 years we have been busy preparing the relocation of two brown bears from a local bear shelter in Azerbaijan. It started with a veterinary intervention mission by Four Paws International in 2023 and 2024, to medically help the 15 bears kept at the shelter and the seven bears kept at a nearby hotel. Bears in Mind joined in the early stages to find a suitable home for several of the bears, amongst them the male brothers Alu (now renamed Benji) & Balu. Wildheart Animal Sanctuary in the UK offered to build a new home for the 12-year-old siblings. The local partners and responsible ministry in Azerbaijan, Wildheart Trust and Bears in Mind worked on the necessary permits, letters and other documentation needed for their export to the UK. Four Paws International provided assistance to these processes.
Wildheart set up a very successful crowdfunding campaign to secure the much needed funding for the construction of the new bear enclosure. Recently, the international cargo airline Cargolux stepped in and offered to sponsor the flight of the bears from Baku in Azerbaijan to the UK!
The UK team from Wildheart, including the vets from IZVG, landed in Azerbaijan on June 1st. They prepared everything and worked on the bears on June 2nd, sedating them at the end of the day and moving them into the transport crates.
On June 3 they departed in the afternoon from Baku Airport with Cargolux, and arrived at Glasgow Prestwick Airport in the UK in the evening! From there they were loaded onto a van and it took another 12hrs to get the bears all the way down to their new home: the Wildheart Animal Sanctuary on the Isle of Wight! Mission accomplished!!
May 5, 2025 – Bears Roza & Taras from Ukraine
May 5 – Liberation Day in the Netherlands – Bears in Mind travelled to the Ukraine to pick up two brown bears named Taras & Roza. Thanks to the many donations from the crowdfunding campaign “de Beregoeiereis” organized by Bears in Mind, it became possible to rescue these two bears from their miserable existence in Ukraine and bring them to the Netherlands.
Taras in his former cageRockets destroyed the zoo
This initial rescue operation involved two brown bears located near the war front in Ukraine until the end of October 2024. The bears lived in a private zoo about 20 kilometers from the front line, and the park was hit multiple times by rockets in September and October. The situation became critical, the animals were in danger, and immediate action was needed. The swift evacuation at the end of October was carried out immediately by Natalyia Popova from the local organization Wild Animal Rescue, and bringing them to safety at the Bear Sanctuary Domazhyr for temporary shelter. Now that all the necessary paperwork for transport is completed, the veterinary requirements met, it was finally time for the two bears to move to their permanent home: the Bear Forest in Ouwehands Zoo in Rhenen, where they will take their first steps into the forest early June.
Roza & Taras at their former home in the Donetsk region
“We are very grateful to all donors and to our EARS partner Four Paws and the people working at Bear Sanctuary Domazhyr who helped make this rescue possible. That they were able to get the bears out of a war zone so we are able to give them a bear-worthy future in the Bear Forest,” says Ingrid Vermeulen, director of Bears in Mind.
From Ukraine to the Netherlands Zootransfer was hired for the job and Koen Cuyten, project manager from Bears in Mind, accompanied them. In Ukraine, the bears were loaded quickly and professionally at Domazhyr sanctuary. It took the team quite some time to cross the border out of Ukraine and into Poland, but eventually on the road in the EU, it went quickly and the bears were calm and well.
Arrival in the Bear Forest in Rhenen Roza and Taras arrived at the Bear Forest in Ouwehands Zoo in Rhenen on Saturday morning at 2am. After the long journey, a comfortable indoor enclosure awaited them. They will stay in quarantine for about a month, after which they will have access to a two-hectare forest area that includes a waterfall, a pond, and various dens for hibernation. They will be fed a diet based on what wild bears eat throughout the year, stimulating their natural behavior. Roza and Taras get a second chance, a new beginning — a chance to be bears again.
Roza (in the back) and Taras exploring the Bear Forest for the first time!
April 25, 2025 – Bear Trishka from Kazakhstan
On December 2nd 2024, Bears in Mind received an urgent message about a 22-year old female brown bear named Trishka. She was kept in a cage as a pet behind a house in Karaganda, Kazakhstan. The owner contacted us directly to ask if we could help and take Trishka, since she could no longer care for her bear. The bear was in her care ever since she was a cub, supposedly after her mother was killed by poachers.
We never turn down a bear, but knew it was going to be a race against the clock. The house and bear cage would be demolished in March 2025, the owner was going to leave the country and couldn’t take Trishka with her. Either we would rescue her in time or she might face euthanasia… So, we started immediately!
Firstly, securing a temporary new home for this beautiful bear. As we have been working closely with our friends at the Wildlife Rescue Center ‘Natuurhulpcentrum‘ in Belgium for a long time, it was quickly agreed Trishka could temporarily go to them and from there we would be able to take our time and find a good permanent home for her elsewhere.
Applying for the mandatory CITES Export and Import permits was next. This went surprisingly well and they were issued fast. In the meantime, to be able to import a bear into Belgium, Trishka needed to be vaccinated against Rabies and a subsequent serology test needed to be done. The results came in at the end of February, which were good so we could continue our mission!
In the meantime, the house of the owner of Trishka and the bear cage were demolished to start a large housing development project. It was agreed by the owner and the developer to have a small temporary cage built for Trishka, elsewhere, so the project was not delayed and we could continue preparing her for her relocation to Belgium.
Early April, we prepared our special bear transport crate to be send to Kazakhstan. Our partner Zoologistics at Schiphol Airport in Amsterdam sent the crate ahead of the transfer to Astana on the 12th of April.
On April 24, one day before Trishka arrived in Frankfurt, the green light has been given in Astana and all paperwork was in order. Special thanks to the hard work of Mr Qadyr Baimukhanov from the local agent Globalink in Kazakhstan and FlyFauna (who handled documents when Trishka arrived at Frankfurt DE in the EU).
On the morning of April 25 bear Trishka arrived at the Animal Lounge of Frankfurt Airport! We inspected her in the quarantine building and she was doing fine after such a long yourney. She was eager to get out of the crate of course! After several hours of vet checks and custom clearance, we could finally take her on the road to Belgium. The team of Bears in Mind and Natuurhulpcentrum arrived at the wildlife rescue center in Oudsbergen, Belgium around 17:00hrs. Trishka couldn’t wait to get out! Although many animals are careful and hesitant to get out of the relative safety of the transport cage, to move into the new enclosure, Trishka was out in seconds to explore her new surrounding!
Trishka will get a vet check soon and she will stay in mandatory quarantine for 3 months, because she has come from outside the EU. After that, she will move to her temporary outdoor enclosure at Natuurhulpcentrum. In the meantime, Bears in Mind will monitor her health and behaviour closely in order to look into the options for a permanent home later this year.
This mission turned out to be a great success, thanks to the hard work and dedication of all involved and a special thanks to LUFTHANSA for making this possible!
During a workshop on the reintroduction of wild bears in 2000, participants agreed that more data has to be gathered to study the long-term effects, before it can be determinded whether or not reintroducing (orphaned) bears is beneficial to the species in the wild. The workshop was a cooperation betweeen Bears in Mind and the Bear Taxon Advisory Group (Bear TAG) of the European Association of Zoos and Aquaria (EAZA).
Reintroduction in Italy
In the mountains in the Trentino region, wild bears from Slovenia are being introduced. Slovenia has a healthy bear population. Another possibility of reintroduction of bears is the rehabilitation of orphaned bears. In such a programme orphaned cubs, whose mother has been shot or died in an accident, are taken care of in a special rehabilitation centre. They are raised and then taught to become wild bears again. If the cubs are grown and can fend for themselves, they are released back into the wild. There is presently not enough data to make claims about the long-term effects of these reintroductions. People are still unsure as to what happens to the bears when they grow older. Time will provide the necessary data.
Especially zoos (in non-western countries where bears often still live in concrete-steel cages), governments and NGOs who want to start a large naturalistic bear enclosure or sanctuary, can enhance their knowledge by using the website: www.largebearenclosures.com It is a so-called ‘living’ document and is continually updated by using the feedback form experts in the field and experience of Bears in Mind staff.
The website is divided in three sections. The first part gives information about building a large naturalistic bear enclosure such as The Bear Forest, materials used and the design of the sanctuary (including vegetation, water management and dens). The second part focuses on managing such a big semi-natural enclosure. Aspects mentioned are among others feeding and husbandry, enrichment, education and research. In the third part extensive information on veterinary aspects regarding captive bears can be found. From castrations, parasites and anaesthesia to dental treatment. The practicality of the website ensures succesful keeping and treatment of bears with relatively basic tools.
Bear Alert is developed by the coalition of Bears in Mind and Foundation for Bears to keep track of the many captive bears, often living under horrible conditions, in order to help as many individuals as possible. Over time, Bears in Mind and Foundation for Bears have gathered information on more than 800 of these bears. Some of them have already been rescued from their miserable existence and brought to a sanctuary or zoo where proper care and space could be offered. Other bears unfortunately died before we could we do anything. And some of them still await a better life…
The individual reports about bears will be processed into a database. Short term solutions will be considered next. In most cases the foundation’s staff will consult with their local partner NGO and / or with the owner of the animal to give advise on husbandry, food and water. Simple enrichment methods for the cages are used such as leafy tree branches or a play object. These methods are often cheap and easy to create and make the life of the bear somewhat more pleasant. In other cases, if legally possible, bears will be confiscated and relocated to a better facility.
The coalition launched Bear Alert as a new platform in 2024. More easy to use on a smartphone, with more and better direct sharing possibilities, so we can help these captive bears in a more efficient way.
