Bear Sanctuary Prishtina

Last updated

The Bear Sanctuary Prishtina is a national park in Kosovo in close proximity to the city of Prishtina.

Contents


Background

For many years, there was no law against keeping brown bears in Kosovo. All privately kept brown bears lived in small cages at restaurants. They were born mostly in the forests of Kosovo or Albania and snatched from their mothers by animal dealers. As restaurant bears they were supposed to attract customers, and thus profit, for their owners. In November 2010, when it became illegal to keep bears privately, there was a need for a national park as a new home for the restaurant bears rescued from captivity. [1]

The Park

Foundation

The Bear Sanctuary Prishtina was founded in 2013 by Four Paws Austria in collaboration with KFOR, the City of Prishtina, the Kosovar Ministry of Environment and the law firm Franke & Partner. [2] The sanctuary provides species-appropriate accommodation for all restaurant bears in large enclosures resembling the bears’ natural habitat Among the patrons of the park are in particular the Kosovar Minister of Environment Dr. Dardan Gashi, the Austrian ambassador in Kosovo Dr. Johann Brieger and Roswitha Brieger. [3]

The bears

The Bear Sanctuary Prishtina has currently in care 20 brown bears (as of January 2020). These ‘restaurant bears’ had been tracked down and registered by the government of Kosovo during the last few years and have been rescued in 2013. [4]

Two restaurant bears, named Rambo and Luta, could not be saved, because their proprietors killed the bears only hours before the rescue team arrived. [5]

Facilities

The sanctuary is built on an area of sixteen hectares. In addition to the existing facilities, a new environmental education center "Thesaret e Natyrës" is opened in 2018 in order to improve the public attention to animal welfare and environmental issues in Kosovo. [3]

Related Research Articles

University of Pristina

The University of Pristina is a public university located in Pristina, Kosovo. It is the institution that emerged after the disestablishment of the University of Pristina (1969–1999) as a result of the Kosovo War. The inauguration of the university was a historical occurrence not only for the people of Kosovo, but for the whole Albanian nation. On 15 February, the solemn Parliament session took place, which is also proclaimed as The University of Pristina's Day. In the composition of the newly established University of Pristina were faculties with their headquarters in Pristina: the Faculty of Philosophy, Faculty of Law and Economics, Faculty of Engineering and Faculty of Medicine. Now the University of Pristina has 17 faculties, of which 14 are academic faculties, and 3 are faculties of applied sciences. Contained within the emblem is a translation of the name into Latin, Universitas Studiorum Prishtiniensis.

FC Prishtina Association football club

Football Club Prishtina, commonly known as Prishtina, is a professional football club based in Pristina, Kosovo. The club play in the Football Superleague of Kosovo, and is the most successful club in Kosovo. The club is also the only club in Kosovo to have never have been relegated from the league.

Skenderaj Town and municipality in District of Mitrovica, Kosovo

Skenderaj or Srbica is a town and municipality located in the Mitrovica District of Kosovo. According to the 2011 census, the town of Skënderaj has 9,372 inhabitants, while the municipality has 50,858 inhabitants.

FC Drita

Football Club Drita, commonly known as Drita, is a professional football club based in Gjilan, Kosovo. The club plays in the Football Superleague of Kosovo.

Fadil Vokrri Stadium

The Fadil Vokrri Stadium, previously known as Pristina City Stadium, is a multi-purpose stadium in Pristina, Kosovo, which is used mostly for football matches and is the home ground of FC Prishtina and Kosovo national football team. The stadium has a capacity of 13,500.

Pristina Capital of Kosovo

Pristina is the capital of Kosovo and the seat of the eponymous municipality and district. Its population is predominantly Albanian-speaking constituting the second-largest such city in Europe, after Tirana. The city is located in the northeastern section of Kosovo in a relatively flat plain close to the Gollak mountains.

Sport in Kosovo has a long tradition and plays a prominent role in the society. Popular sports in Kosovo are among others football, basketball, futsal, volleyball, handball, and rugby. Whereas, major individual sports include wrestling, judo, swimming, boxing, karate and skiing.

Tourism in Kosovo

Kosovo is situated in south-eastern Europe. With its central position in the Balkans, it serves as a link in the connection between central and south Europe, the Adriatic Sea, and Black Sea. Tourism in Kosovo is characterized by archaeological heritage from Illyrian, Dardanian, Roman, Byzantine, Serbian and Ottoman times, traditional Albanian and Serbian cuisine, architecture, religious heritage, traditions, and natural landscapes.

Balkasar Bear Sanctuary, established in 2010 by Fakhar-i-Abbas of CBR, is an animal sanctuary in Balkassar, Chakwal District, Punjab, Pakistan. The sanctuary provides a retirement and rehabilitation home, and veterinary care for rescued bears from bear-baiting events. It houses the endangered species of Asian black bears and Himalayan brown bears. Balkasar Bear Sanctuary also has ornithology and herpetology research stations.

Forests of Kosovo

The forests of Kosovo make up about 41% of the entire surface of the territory. Most of the forests are located in southwestern Kosovo, including the outskirts of Peja, Deçan, Istok, Junik and Gjakova and are protected by particular laws of the Kosovan Constitution. There are several types of forests in Kosovo and they are mostly represented by pinnate ones.

Prishtina is the epicenter of sport in Kosovo, where activity is organized across amateur and professional levels, sport organizations and clubs, regulated by the Kosovo Olympic Committee and the Ministry of Culture, Youth and Sport.

Tourism in Pristina

Tourism in Pristina attracted 36,186 foreign visitors in 2012, which represents 74.2% of all visitors that visited Kosovo during that year. Foreign visitors mostly come from countries like Albania, Turkey, Germany, United States, Slovenia and North Macedonia, but also from other countries. Some of the most visited places in Pristina are Batlava Lake and Gadime Marble Cave, which are also among the most visited places in Kosovo.

Four Paws global animal welfare organisation based in Vienna, Austria

Four Paws is a global animal welfare organisation based in Vienna, Austria. The organisation is focusing on gradually improving the living conditions of animals under direct human influence, by revealing suffering, rescuing animals in need and protecting them.

The Bear Sanctuary Domazhyr is a national park in the Ukraine and was founded in 2013 by Four Paws due to the abuse of bears for baiting and using illegally for dog fights on hunting stations.

The Bear Sanctuary Ninh Binh is located in Vietnam and was completed in December 2017 by Four Paws due to the production of bear bile and the illegal trade of bear products.

The Bear Sanctuary Müritz near Stuer in the north-east of Germany is a project that provides a species-appropriate home for mistreated and neglected captive bears.

The Dancing Bears Park Belitsa is a project of Four Paws near the town of Belitsa in South West Bulgaria and provides mistreated and neglected brown bears with a home.

Martin Hojsík is a Slovak activist, an environmental expert and a politician elected as a Member of the European Parliament in 2019. In addition to his committee assignments, Hojsík is a member of the European Parliament Intergroup on the Welfare and Conservation of Animals and a member of the political group Renew Europe. He is also a vice chairman of the non-parliamentary political movement Progressive Slovakia and their expert on environmental issues and sustainability.

Amir Khalil is an Egyptian veterinarian and Director of Project Development at the animal welfare organisation Four Paws International. He is most known as the war vet, saving animals from disaster areas and war zones.

The Al Ma'wa Wildlife Reserve in Jerash province north of Amman was established in 2011 by the Princess Alia Foundation in partnership with the international animal welfare organisation Four Paws. It is the largest sanctuary for rescued and mistreated wildlife in the Middle East.

References

  1. http://www.balkaninsight.com/en/article/captive-brown-bears-gain-fresh-start
  2. "Finally hope for the brown bears in Kosovo!". RespekTiere. 2011-06-13. Retrieved 2013-08-19.
  3. 1 2 "Remaining restaurant bears in Kosovo have been rescued" (PDF). openPR. Retrieved 2013-08-21.
  4. "Rescue of brown bears in Kosovo". Archived from the original on 2013-12-07. Retrieved 2013-08-19.
  5. Emergency Bear Rescue by Four Paws

Coordinates: 42°38′17″N21°15′36″E / 42.63806°N 21.26000°E / 42.63806; 21.26000