17/05/2026

theSunday Special VI ON SUNDAY MAY 17, 2026 F OR years, Syrian brown bears Nairi, Aram and their cub Lola were confined in a 3m-wide cage in Armenia's capital Yerevan, living in their own faeces and fed with sweets. After being rescued last year, they are now thriving at a wildlife refuge in the Caucasus country’s highlands, but others have not been so lucky.

New life for rescued bears

Animals learning to live again at Armenian sanctuary

As many as 20 bears are thought to remain captive in Armenia, a post-Soviet country where oligarchs have been accused of keeping predators as status symbols. Rescuers have found the animals in miserable conditions – holed up in hotels, backyards and petrol stations, unable to hibernate and deprived of access to natural light. “No proper care, no veterinary checks, nothing,” said Tsovinar Hovhannisyan, conservation manager at the Foundation for the Preservation of Wildlife and Cultural Assets (FPWC), an Armenian-based non-profit that spearheads rescue efforts and operates a rehabilitation centre for the animals. Some of the bears have been found with rotting teeth, after being fed with “cookies, Coca-Cola and sweet stuff,” she told AFP. After realising the scale of the problem, “we were certain we need this rehabilitation and rescue centre,” she added. Armenia's strategic position between Asia and Europe has made it a hub for wildlife trafficking. Demand for rare animals among Armenia's ultra-rich has also been a persistent issue, according to a report from the Global Organised Crime Index.

hours, awaiting court for permission to get into the house and rescue the bears,” said Hovhannisyan. When the keepers finally entered the cage, they found it caked in filth. “That was horrible. It was stinky,” she said, adding she had “very bad memories from that day”. They need to feel ‘wild’ Built into a mountainside around an hour's drive from the capital, the centre’s 32 bears have large enclosures and are able to dig their own dens. The food they are given is designed to replicate their diet in the wild, about 80% fruit and vegetables – much of it grown at the refuge – and 20% meat. They are able to hibernate, unlike in captivity, but must have continued stimulation to keep their minds busy. “They need to dig, they need to climb trees. They need to smell different plants. We give them live prey too,” said Narine Piloyan, the centre’s coordinator. After years spent in a cage, the bears at first did not use the full enclosure, said Piloyan. Despite improvements in health and wellbeing, the bears are unable to hunt, meaning they must spend the rest of their lives at the centre, said Piloyan. The goal, she explained, is to let them be bears for the rest of their days. “They need to feel that they are wild.” The bears are now thriving at an animal rescue centre in the highlands.

The bears need constant stimulation to keep their minds busy.

“ “We know of several wild animals, not only bears, held by some of the key big oligarchs in Armenia.”

oligarchs in Armenia. “It is for them a status symbol. Something to brag about... especially if they’re holding big predators, to show that they are more manly,” said Poghosyan. Rescuing the bears is also a challenge.

In 2015, an Armenian lawmaker faced criticism after revealing he was keeping half a dozen endangered Siberian tigers at his home.

The issue came to a head in 2016, when a private zoo owned by a businessman in the northern city of Gyumri fell into financial difficulty, leaving animals including lions and bears starving in cages. ‘Something to brag about’ With Armenia set to host a COP summit on biodiversity in October, rescuers are racing to free the remaining bears. But the centre has no space to house more bears, said communications manager Ani Poghosyan.

In some cases, an owner would offer to give up their bear, only to change their mind when the team turned up, said Poghosyan. Rescuing Nairi, Aram and Lola was one of the most challenging operations the group has undertaken, Hovhannisyan said.

The owner was reluctant to part with the animals, telling the rescuers they were “happy living with him”. “He was saying that we are going to kill the animals, and we don’t know how to properly take care of them. “We stood under the rain, more than eight

They are trying to raise funds to expand. “We know of several wild animals, not only bears, held by some of the key big

A bear peeking out through the bars of its cage. – ALL PICS FROM AFP

Chickens crossing roads? Not in Poland, where motorists stop for ducks

WADDLING across a Warsaw expressway, a brood of wild sea ducks brought traffic to a halt as volunteers held motorists at bay, an annual ritual to protect the bustling Polish capital's famous ducklings. Every spring, dozens of days-old ducklings must make the risky trek from a centrally located park where they hatch to the Vistula river. Local volunteers are mobilised to help ensure their safe passage, scrambling in hi-vis vests to stop cars and shepherd the birds across one of Warsaw's busiest roads. Waddling through the city of 1.8 million people, the groups of mergansers (fish-eating sea ducks) are led by their silver-feathered mothers, with their distinctive brown head crests. “We call mergansers ambassadors of Warsaw’s wildlife, or our celebrities,” said Barbara Rozalska from the city parks department. She was speaking over the rumble of the six-lane expressway, one of the biggest threats for the wild birds on their kilometre-long journey. Rozalska is in charge of coordinating the volunteers, who through April and May, monitor the park and tree cavities where ducks lay their eggs and the possible routes they may take towards the river. About 30 people, trained by the city's

ornithologist, take turns to stay alert for any sighting of the mergansers. “It’s a bit like being on call at the accident and emergency department, you get a call and you have to go, no matter if it’s at dawn or in the afternoon,” Rozalska told AFP. The array of threats is not limited to road traffic. “There are seagulls and crows, which can snatch a chick that gets away from its mother for a moment. There are also predatory fish that can drag a chick underwater,” she said. Job satisfaction One of the first merganser mums to cross this season took almost 24 hours to make it from the park to the river, testing the patience of the volunteers monitoring their every step and stumble. That included the 11 hours the birds spent nestled in the roadside greenery, waiting for their moment. Daria Grzesiek, 38, called it a “very difficult day” for her team. “But once she set off and began making her way towards the Vistula, the fatigue was gone. There was only the satisfaction of having successfully guided her safely along the way,” Grzesiek said. The job of the volunteers involves asking passersby to keep their distance and put their dogs on a leash.

A merganser mother named Janina leading her ducklings from Lazienkowski Park in central Warsaw towards the Vistula River.

wheel, Grzesiek said. One person, she recounted, “was getting upset that we stopped traffic”. “But other motorists simply explained to him that he should calm down, because mergansers are coming”.

They also take on the task of explaining to drivers why the traffic needs to be stopped, normally only for a few minutes. As their efforts have gained traction and the birds have shot to local fame, there is more understanding among those sitting behind the