In 2012, Bears in Mind started supporting research into the occurrence and distribution of the brown bear in Ghizer district. The Snow Leopard Foundation (SLF) carries out the research in cooperation with the province of Gilgit Baltistan. The data on the bears are gathered by means of camera trapping (recordings made with hidden cameras), by mapping bear tracks such as paw prints, scratching and rub marks, and by collecting fecal samples for DNA testing. Interviews with the local community will hopefully provide more insight into bear-human conflicts and poaching. The commercial trade with China is very appealing to Pakistan and other countries in the Himalayan region, such as Nepal.
The results of the research will be translated into a draft protection plan for brown bears in Ghizer district. In addition, the Snow Leopard Foundation is expanding their nature conservation activities to include these large carnivores. The local people are actively involved in the activities, which foster mutual respect and make protecting the bears a logical step. The results of the research will be published in scientific journals and a science magazine.
In India, habitat fragmentation and destruction is one of the main threats to bears, others being poaching for bile extraction (this has started in India according to a recent report), poaching for meat (rampant in some states) and human/animal conflict within or near the forest.
Public awareness
India is very progressive when it comes to bear education. Bears in Mind has supported the educational work of the local NGO Zoo Outreach Organisation (ZOO). Their education project reaches schools, zoos and museums. Back in the day, the problems with dancing bears in India are considerable. Several thousands of cubs, usually sloth bears, were been taken from their mothers and trained to be dancing bears. ZOO managed to make people aware of the suffering that is caused by this ancient, yet cruel tradition. Between 2002-2012 teaching packages were made with financial support of Bears in Mind. These packages consisted of all sorts of educational games, t-shirts, stickers and posters. More importantly, information about the way brown bears, sloth bears, Asiatic black bears and Sun bears in India were threatened, was included. India is the only country with four different bear species and it is therefore very important to protect them all.
ZOO Outreach Organization has been working with Bears in Mind for 10 years to improve the welfare of bears in India as well as their conservation in the wild. This has been done entirely with education, starting with a conservation education programme aimed at two groups; the visiting public (or organisations which educate them) and the zoo directors of zoos that have bears in their collection. 6,000 bear packets have been printed and ordered by 59 organisation and 8,000 posters have been printed and ordered by 56 different organizations.
A study documented 27 close encounters in 2003-2005, where harm to humans was reported in two cases harm to bears reported in six cases. More than 61% of the interviewees reported damage caused by bears to agricultural fields, beehives or livestock between 2003 and 2005. Villagers took precautions with differing levels of sophistication and effectiveness against damage caused by bears. Many locals used basic exclusion methods, like simple fences or metal sheets placed around tree trunks, but these were generally not very effective; 21% of the interviewees did not take any measures. Using current average values for damaged livestock and property, a minimum annual cost of about USD$20,000 is estimated for Yusufeli.
There is growing resentment among local villagers, who usually blame conservation authorities and may use illegal means to get rid of “problem bears”. Pressure from the hunting lobby to list the bear for trophy hunting, complicates the situation. Since the fundamental element for maintaining bears in any area is to control human-induced mortality, there is an urgent need to educate the rural public and introduce effective preventive measures to reduce the conflict. In this study funded by Bears in Mind between 2007-2008, it was done by interviewing farmers and villagers in the study area and developing different types of education materials to be distributed amongst locals in villages and schools. Various preventive measures were tested like electric fences around beehives, apiaries and the use of random-noise generators and placing beehives on elevated platforms.
The project started in January 2004 and different stakeholders were invited to an introductory meeting at the beginning of the project. The most important goal of this meeting was to create motivation and commitment among the partners to draw up a management plan. The meeting was led by a neutral facilitator. The main issues such as hunting, estimation methods of bear population and contents of the management plan were discussed. The field work was directed at collecting data on population size, population trends, distribution, habitat use, mortality causes, damage being done by bears, public attitudes towards bears, human impact on the bear population etc.
Funds Bears in Mind was able to secure funding from the Dutch Ministry of Agriculture, Nature and Food Quality through their PIN-Matra and BBI-Matra programme. Bears in Mind was responsible for the overall project coordination and interaction with the Dutch sponsors. BALKANI Wildlife Society was responsible for project coordination and implementation locally. In June 2008 the final version of the management plan was presented to the Bulgarian Ministry of Environment and Water and received approval!
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.
The first workshop ‘Brown Bear Management in Slovakia’ was held in July 2011. Hunters, foresters, nature conservationists, government representatives, farmers and beekeepers, as well as representatives from the police and the university attended the workshop. Dr. Alistair Bath skilfully led the different parties with conflicting interests towards finding solutions and reaching agreement. Dr. Bath is an expert in the area of Human Dimensions in Wildlife Management. All participants, including the Department for Environment, expressed the wish to participate in a second workshop. This workshop was held in October of the same year and was equally successful. A subsequent workshop was organised in 2012, and a conceptual management plan for the brown bear in Slovakia was drawn.
Several years later the State Nature Conservancy of the Slovak Republic has begun preparing management plan-type documents for the bear / wolf / lynx / wildcat. Undoubtedly, the groundwork for the bear plan was layed down by Dr. Bath and SWS.
Bear Emergency Team (BET) A ‘BET’ swings into action as soon as a bear is sighted near areas inhabited by humans. Acting swiftly is beneficial to both humans and bears. The members of a BET are appointed by the Department for Environment. Bears in Mind has provided funds in order to organise a Bear Emergency Team training session. The training is provided by Dr. Djuro Huber, a Croatian bear expert who has been collaborating with Bears in Mind for quite some time. The team also strives to help avoid conflict involving bears and assists the government with registration of all bear-related incidents. This also includes traffic accidents involving bears.
In East Kalimantan (Indonesia), Sun bear habitat is rapidly shrinking due to forest conversion and fires for palm oil monoculture development. As a result of this Sun bears are now commonly held as pets and conflict with humans occurs when bears enter communities or feed on crops. Despite this, the Balikpapan municipality decided in 2001 to make the Sun bear its mascot. This has led to a better protection of the last bit of primal forest where bears live (the Sungai Wain forest), and a heightened awareness among the locals. The sanctuary is surrounded by an elevated bridge. From this bridge visitors can see the bears play, climb, and dig. Local guides are trained to give visitors information.
Bears in Mind has funded the construction of the center, development and printing of a number of awareness materials like design and production of a new sun bear activity booklet, re-printing of Sun Bear booklet for distribution among visitors, production of variety of Sun bear promotional materials and improved visitor education through guide training.
Throughout 2023 – 2025, Bears in Mind provided funds for the much needed repairs/ maintenance to the visitor boardwalks, the Sun bear holding, the bear food storage & kitchen and the Sun bear enclosure.
Threats to the sun bear Visitors at the KWPLH Education Centre can access information through painted panels, paintings, bear statues, information panels and interactive displays. All the education material is being made by local artists. Local goverment has been very positive since the start of the project, and they contribute in the daily management costs. The Sun bear or Malayan bear is a protected species in Indonesia, but law enforcement is not very strict. Because large parts of the forest are still turned into plantations or cut down for agriculture, many bears loose their habitat. In search for food they sometimes come too close to human settements. Cubs are taken from the wild and are often kept as a pet, until they grow too large (and dangerous) to maintain and end their life in misery in a small cage or are sold for meat or other parts.
Bears in Mind continues to help sanctuaries for the rehoming of abused and mistreated bears and supports education programs on the subject. For the rescue and rehabilitation (and permanent rehoming) of the bears in SE Asia, Bears in Mind supports Animals Asia Foundation.
In Vietnam a rescue centre was established (Tam Dao Bear Sanctuary) where Bears in Mind funded an education project for visitors of the centre to experience. In the China Bear Rescue Centre various so-called ‘bear dens’ were co-financed.
The latest contribution to Animals Asia was done in 2022, when Bears in Mind funded the salary for a year of two local staff members at the (then) new-to-be-build sanctuary in Vietnam. This new sanctuary in Bach Ma National Park will become the home for the last 300+ bears from Vietnamese bear farms.
Bears in Mind has supported the development of the Large Carnivore Education Centre in Vlahi, in the Pirin Mountains. Various other projects in this region (see links to the projects below) have also been supported. After completion, the centre has been in full use. Not only school children, but also students and tourists visit the centre to learn about Bulgarian wildlife which features information on the countries carnivores. A small shop has been opened and visitors can enjoy coffee and a snack in the small café. On the second floor an interactive exhibition is set up, highlighting examples of conflicts between humans and carnivores and their possible solutions. In addition, a room is converted to make it suitable for workshops and (small) conferences.
Near the educational centre the bear enclosure for former circusbear Medo and bear Buya (from Kormisosh) was built. At the beginning of August 2019 these bears have been relocated to a new home in Northern Italy.
The primary goal of the educational project funded by Bears in Mind (2011-2012) was to increase awareness among school children and students about the situation in which captive bears in Thailand live. Staff members of the Wildlife Friends Foundation Thailand (WFFT) gave presentations at schools and universities on the abuse and mistreatment of bears. These presentations were supplemented with educational material in the form of a booklet (both in English and in Thai) describing the threat to and the ways to protect bears in Southeast Asia. The booklet provided examples of bears, which have been saved by the WFFT. It also further explains the welfare problems of bears living in captivity and provided general information about wild bears in Thailand.
The sanctuary Although mostly elephants, monkeys, crocodiles, snakes and orang-utans are used for human entertainment in Thailand, bears are often kept locked up in small cages in so-called zoos. Moreover, they are also kept illegally as pets. Small bear cubs look very cute when they are still young, however as they grow bigger they become aggressive, unmanageable and thus dangerous to people. Most bear owners end up dropping their ‘pets’ off at a temple or an animal sanctuary. Since its initiation, WFFT has rescued more than 1,500 animals, primarily monkeys (macaques, gibbons and langurs), tigers and bears (Asiatic black bears and Sun bears).
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