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    • 11 Nov, 2015

    Urgent Appeal: Journey to Freedom

    [donate text=”Donate now to help the bear cubs on their journey to freedom”]

    On Mayhew International’s recent visit to Tbilisi earlier this year, we were alerted to three orphaned bear cubs being cared for at Tbilisi Municipal Dog Shelter. The cubs were discovered on the streets of Tbilisi, one in a rubbish bin, after the city was severely flooded in June. The 9-month-old bears, all female, did not come from Tbilisi Zoo so we assume they were being kept as pets and became displaced during the floods.

    The shelter is caring for them as best they can but these are wild animals and it is not a suitable environment for the bear cubs. They are getting bigger every day and are not suited to a life in captivity. As it is now starting to get very cold in Tbilisi, we are building them individual winter dens to help keep them warm and comfortable.

    Mayhew International immediately stepped in to offer assistance and we are working with Georgia’s Ministry of the Environment & Natural Resources and Tbilisi’s Animal Monitoring Agency to secure their safe passage to Arcturos in Greece.

    DSCN0602_edited2

    We are working tirelessly to arrange export and transportation of the cubs according to CITES regulations and it is planned that the bears will live in a new bear enclosure in Northern Greece. The enclosure will provide an environment with plenty of natural enrichment where the cubs will be rehabilitated and, hopefully, can be released back into the wild to live as bears should and not be subjected to a life in captivity.

    We urgently need your support

    We need your help to get the bear cubs to their new home in Greece as soon as possible. Can you help them on their journey to freedom by making a donation today? We need to raise £10,000 to fund enrichment and supplementary diet foods while they are at the dog shelter, all export licences and documentation, special IATA cages for transportation and full transportation costs. We are now half way to achieving this total, but we still need help to get there.

    The export documentation has been submitted to the Georgian Ministry of the Environment and we are hoping to get the Export Licence within a couple of weeks. They will likely be flown from Tbilisi to Thessalonika and then do the final leg of the journey by road. We hope to start the move in February 2016.

    To make a donation, please click the button below or call us now on 020 8206 5870.

    [donate text=”Donate now to help get the bear cubs to Greece”]

    To read more about the bear cubs, click here.

    Thank you.
    Caroline Yates signature

     

     

    Caroline Yates, CEO

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