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REPUBLIC CROATIA: BEAR HUGS IN HOME FOR ABANDONED CUBSby inavukic |
There
is a sanctuary, a refuge for brown bear cubs in a small village
Kuterevo, Croatia. Besides abandoned brown bears, baby brown bears that
due to an accident or poaching have been separated from their mothers
and are too young to live independently have found a home in Kuterevo,
on the slopes of Velebit Mountain in Lika - just one and a half hour
drive from the coast. Kuterevo Bear Refuge is a unique project in the
world.
While
most of Europe's brown bears have been wiped out but Croatia's native
population is estimated at 1,000. Thanks to the work of one man, Ivan
Crnkovic-Pavenka, who just over ten years ago set up Kuterevo Bear
Refuge in the village of Kuterevo, Lika/Velebit region, brown bears and
especially abandoned bear cubs have a chance of survival.
A
retired social worker Ivan Crnkovic-Pavenka has provided a haven for
brown bears that wander into villages in search of food and develop too
strong a taste for human leftovers. Usually in Europe, when bear cubs
get used to humans, they cannot survive in the wild. And when they grow
too big, they're shot.
"We wanted to offer an alternative to killing orphan bear cubs that got attached to human civilization," Crnkovic-Pavenka said.
"We wanted to offer an alternative to killing orphan bear cubs that got attached to human civilization," Crnkovic-Pavenka said.
Crnkovic-Pavenka
expects some 500 volunteers from four continents to come to the
Kuterevo Bear Refuge between June and October. The good-willed, young
working hands and knowledgeable volunteers are expected to do as much
work as possible in order to create conditions of quality co-existence
of people and the abandoned brown bears in the Refuge. Crnkovic-Pavenka
plans volunteer arrivals in groups or by individuals, whose stay may be
from a week to four months. Besides work the Refuge is planning to offer
the volunteers some forms of entertainment and “rest for the soul”, he
said.
Otherwise,
a fundraising action “Land For Bears”, which aims to raise enough funds
for the purchase of more land, continues in Kuterevo. “We don’t
have big demands but we’ve come to the point where the next step needs
to be made – lease or purchase extra land – to accommodate the bears
already in trouble at various zoos or private keeps”.
At
the rear of the two existing sanctuaries lies forest wilderness with
wild bears that pose a threat to the abandoned domesticated ones. The
sanctuaries are thus walled off with simple chain-link fences, which
allow the resident bears to roam freely beside, but not into, the
village.
A
volunteer from France, Amelie Jaquet, said other European countries
should follow Croatia's lead if they have any native bears left.
"When you come here to help, you actually realize that something is wrong in your own country," Jaquet said. "We killed all the bears and we do not know how to live with nature anymore."
"When you come here to help, you actually realize that something is wrong in your own country," Jaquet said. "We killed all the bears and we do not know how to live with nature anymore."
In
Croatia around 1000 bears live in the wild. The bears living in Croatia
are a part of the Dinaric (land mass/mountain chain spanning across
Southern Europe) bear population, estimated to be around 3,000. The bear
is biologically classified as a rare species. The limited size of the
available habitat and the large space the bears require, prevent any
significant further growth of the bear population.
The
mountains do connect people and a testament to that are the Kuterevo
Bear Refuge planned activities for 2015 in which the Refuge will
participate at the end of summer in the big EU sponsored project
(Erasmus and European Commission) – youth education exchange program in
which tradition and alternative ways of life, global problems and local
solutions are to be addressed and researched.
So,
anyone wanting a bear hug, a gratitude from a saved cub, Kuterevo and
Velebit area of Croatia might just be the place for you. A feel-good
story in any case. Ina Vukic, Prof. (Zgb); B.A., M.A.Ps. (Syd)
Links to Kuterevo Bear Refuge blog, newsletters and other information:
A video made by a volunteer visiting Kuterevo Bear Refuge:
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