The Ministry of Environment and Water, Four Paws Foundation, and the environmental organization WWF today returned into the wild the three bear cubs that were found abandoned in the Rhodopes last June.

In the summer of 2021, Huba, Vihar, and Goran were discovered by the RIEW-Smolyan team stressed, scared, and without a mother, and were shortly sheltered in the “Bear Park” in Belitsa. Until yesterday, they were housed in the Greek center “Arcturos”, which has conditions for readaptation of animals and their subsequent return into the wild.

After a thorough inspection on Saturday, Arcturos experts found that the bears had reached the right age and weight to return into the wild. The bears were transported by specialized vehicles with support by the specialists from the Four Paws Foundation.

Experts from the Greek and Bulgarian side jointly determined a suitable place to return them into the wild in the Central Balkan National Park, which fully meets the necessary characteristics. The three bears have special collars, through which WWF experts will be able to monitor but intervention will be undertaken only as a last resort - if there are doubts about their health or if there are signs of problematic behavior. The experts are ready for regular field visits, for setting up and inspecting photo traps for observation, as well as for recapturing the bears if necessary.

“I hope that Huba, Vihar, and Goran will quickly adapt to their new place in the wildlife of Bulgaria and remain healthy. In the Ministry of Environment and Water we are discussing the possibility of establishing a Rescue Center for large wild mammals, because we do not have one yet. We continue to work to improve bear conservation policies by strengthening control over poaching and improving methods of compensating farmers who have been harmed by bear attacks,” Environment and Water Minister Borislav Sandov said during the release in the Central Balkan Park.

Dimitar Ivanov, director of the park in Belitsa, managed by "Four Paws", expressed concern that in the last ten years orphan bears are increasingly witnessed. The reasons are almost always related to direct human activity - poaching, habitat reduction, entering bears’ territories.

“We believe that harmonious coexistence between humans and bears is possible,” said WWF Bulgaria Executive Director Veselina Kavrakova. “However, to achieve this, much more resources and serious prevention measures are needed, which includes mass education on bear behavior - in schools and also including people who regularly spend time in the wild, as well as the need for better implementation of the law, because bears are a protected species and killing them illegally is a crime.”