CAPTIVE BEAR ASSESSMENT IN GEORGIA

Illegal capturing of bears, mostly cubs, has become a widespread form of poaching in Georgia over the last decades. It poses a serious threat to the wild population of brown bear - a species on the National Red list as a critically endangered. Besides, it is illegal for individuals to keep bears captured from the wild. In 2006 we began the project -“Captive Bear Assessment in Georgia” with financial support of Alertis, Fund for Bear and Nature Conservation, the Netherlands.

The goal of the project is to conduct an inventory of bears being illegally kept in captivity throughout Georgia, and based on the collected information, to come up with an action plan in a participatory manner that would more appropriately address the problem. A total of 30 captive bears were recorded and inspected on-site. Detailed information on each individual bear was gathered and entered into a special database.

Since the early 1990s the illegal capturing and keeping of brown bears in cages or as pets is becoming a common occurrence in Georgia. Today one can see captive bears at roadside restaurants and petrol stations. In most cases the initial motivation for keeping a bear is to attract more visitors. In addition, bears are also kept as pets in private homes. Most of the captive bears have to live under harsh conditions that are truly deplorable and inhumane. Most are locked up in cages that fail to meet even minimum requirements. The cages are typically small, dirty and lack any shade at all. Most often the bears are not receiving proper care or food. Bears are not even being supplied with drinking water and there are also quality problems. Their diet is often extremely poor and comprises restaurant leftovers, mostly consisting of bread products and cooked food scraps. Some of them have to live under a constant noise of busy roads and the threat of being teased by crowds. In addition to those kept in permanent cages, street photographers are exploiting illegally captured bear cubs as a draw to attract customers (although luckily such photo gimmicks are not a common occurrence in Georgia). Most captive bears show acute signs of stress and neurosis (red eyes, unrest, repetitive movements and various stereotypic behaviours). There have been several instances observed of bears being subjected to torture, harassment and cruel treatment. Most holders lack any knowledge as to how to take care of their captive bears. Owners do not observe even the most basic safety rules and visitors are often exposed to potential threats. Overall, the existing situation is totally unacceptable to any humane society.

Despite being primarily a conservation organisation, NACRES has been working on the problem of captive bears since 1995. Nevertheless due to poor law enforcement standards and the generally weak state of governmental institutions, it has been almost impossible to effectively address the issue. Presently the Environmental Police and Biodiversity Protection Unit of the Ministry of Environmental Protection and Natural Resources are both keenly interested in resolving the problem. There is now renewal hope that with the concerted efforts of relevant governmental agencies, including the NGO sector, and in tandem with general public, a determined effort will now be made to solve the problem of cruelty to bears once and for all.