Zoo in Scotland to adopt bear who suffered severe trauma in Russian-occupied Ukraine

A zoo in Scotland is all set to adopt an Asiatic black bear who suffered severe trauma in Russian-occupied Ukraine.

The Five Sisters Zoo in Scotland, in a press release on Tuesday, said that it will not only provide a new home to the bear but will also continue to support his recovery.

The bear was rescued from an abandoned zoo on the outskirts of Yampil in Donetsk Oblast, when Ukrainian forces freed the village in October 2022, as per The Kyiv Independent.

The rescuers at the scene said that the 12-year-old bear was one of the few left alive. He was starving, filthy, and close to death.

After being rescued, he was named Yampil, after the village where he was found.

He is set to leave for his new home in Edinburghearly next year.

“War and conflict…is a horrible thing and it’s very traumatic for people. It’s often forgotten that it’s traumatic for animals as well,” Five Sisters Zoo's head Romain Pizzi was quoted as saying by CNN.

“There are many species like the Asiatic black bear who are really intelligent,” he said.

“We want to make sure that what we build for him as a sanctuary enclosure in…Scotland is going to meet his needs and they’ll be specific to him, depending on what trauma he’s gone through and what maladaptive behaviours he may have developed in that time,” Pizzi added.

The Five Sisters Zoo, which has rescued bears and lions who have been ill-treated at circuses in the past, first heard about Yampil through Natuurhulpcentrum Wildlife Rescue charity in northeastern Belgium.

“I was quite emotional about it and it’s kind of unimaginable some of the stuff that he’s gone through,” the zoo’s head carnivore keeper, Gary Curran was quoted as saying by CNN. “And so we were really keen to do our best to make sure that we create a home for the rest of his life no matter the cost.”

(With inputs from agencies)

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