After no hope, there’s rebirth- Bear Sanctuary, Prishtinë

 Did you ever think about how it would feel to be mistreated, and live in conditions not suitable for your own size? Or how life would be if you were caged, and treated like you are in a circus? 

That is how some brown bears were treated in Kosovo until the BEAR SANCTUARY project by FOUR PAWS International, the international organization that exposes suffering, saves animals in need and provides protection for animals who are directly influenced by humans. 

In this blog, I am going to share my own experience, how I felt about the Bear Sanctuary, stories of rescued bears, and tell you about all the things you can do there. 

My journey in the trails of the Bear Sanctuary.

As a child, I always loved animals, especially bears and when I got the chance to visit this place I was thrilled. 

This place is amazing to connect with nature and Its blessings, you first walk into the building where you have to pay for a ticket so you can go and check out the bears and also a LION!!!. I felt like everything looked unreal and I suddenly was in a Lion King Movie, but also with bears. 

As I walked through the trails I saw fascinating things, the bears, their surroundings, and the conditions that they live in. I learned a lot about the natural habitat of a bear and what they do. 

There are also interesting ways that inform you about the place, like trivia games (guess the bear, guess the bird, etc), labyrinths, and caves that resemble the ones where bears sleep during hibernation. 

Each step I took gave me the opportunity to learn something new, and my love for bears just grew when I saw some of the cutest ones like Roni the bear, and Ema its sister. 

Meet one of the youngest bears in the sanctuary, 

and definitely one of the cutest, Roni and Ema’s story is heartbreaking. 

When they were just one month old, FOUR PAWS saved Ema and Ron. The two cubs were being kept as pets by two different families after being sold. But as soon as the authorities learned about the situation and took the young cubs away, their luck was about to change. 

As soon as they arrived at BEAR SANCTUARY- Prishtina, their team of keepers and bear specialists took fantastic care of them. These two bears are really close because they grew up together. As a result, the pair is frequently spotted together. And when I saw them there, it was like looking at two siblings play fighting with each other and it gave me a really warm feeling. 

• Things you can do there:
• Shop for souvenirs: you can find there different souvenirs such as notebooks with bears, T-shirts with bears, tote bags with bears, keychains with bears, and mugs ( you guessed it, with bears). 
• You can take photos, at the photo booth and at a canvas looking like an instagram post, with the username of @bear_sanctuary_prishtina 
• There is also a notebook where you can leave a message, or note or just write the date on which you visited the place and the names of the people you have been with. 
• And at the end, after you look at all these things you can go for a cup of coffee or have food at their restaurant with an amazing view of the mountains.

Hopefully, this blog post will be helpful to you for your trip to the Bear Sanctuary. 

DON’T FORGET TO HAVE FUN. 

BLOGGER: Djellza Prekadini