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A two-year-old bear named Mash kept in a restaurant complex in Gyumri was transferred to Yerevan Zoo. As Armenia’s ministry of nature protection reported in a press statement, the transfer took place in the frames of the partnership along with Environmental Protection and Mining Inspection Body of the ministry and the Foundation for the Preservation of Wildlife and Cultural Assets (FPWC).

As the information department at the ministry informed, the specialists of the Yerevan Zoo sedated the animal and transferred to the newly established refuge from the uncomfortable cage without difficulties. The bear will remain in the Zoo till the end of the quarantine period, afterwards, the specialists will decide on her future.

To remind, the campaign to free bears kept in substandard private captivity usually for attracting customers to local businesses and hotels, was prompted by stories and photographs of imprisoned animals throughout Armenia’s outdoor recreation facilities published by western media outlets. Several charity organizations came to the animals’ aid, the Armenian Foundation for the Preservation of Wildlife and Cultural Assets (FPWCA), the British charity International Animal Rescue (IAR) among them.