The Arosa Bear Sanctuary offers a better home to bears that are already in captivity.
Keystone
A bear sanctuary in southeast Switzerland is to become home to two bears from a zoo in North Macedonia.
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The 2.8 hectare Arosa sanctuary works with the Four Paws animal welfare NGO to offer improved conditions for bears that are already in captivity. Two bears are already in residence at the facility that can accommodate five animals.
On Thursday, it was announced that an agreement had been reached with Skopje Zoo to offer a home for two of its four bears – a brother and sister aged 18-years-old.
The Skopje Zoo bear enclosure needs a maintenance overhaul and it was decided it would be better to house only two animals in future.
Arrangements are being made to transport the two bears across several countries and no exact date has been set for their arrival in Switzerland.
Their new home will “provide many new opportunities for the siblings and will allow them to live a bear-friendly life”, said Arosa Bear Foundation president Pascal Jenny. “Bears need a lot of space and the opportunity to bathe, climb and hibernate.”
The Arosa Bear Sanctuary has attracted 240,000 visitors since it started operating in August 2018.
Its two current residents are called Meimo and Amelia. Two other bears that were once housed at the sanctuary have since died.
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