URTSADZOR (Armenia), May 8 — For years, Syrian brown bears Nairi, Aram and their cub Lola were trapped in a three-metre-wide cage in Armenia’s capital Yerevan, living in their...
Malaysia can’t sell oil to Asean because it still imports 400,000 barrels daily, says investment, trade and industry ministerA bear looks out from inside a cage as activists of the Foundation for the Preservation of Wildlife and Cultural Assets — an Armenian-based charity that spearheads the rescue efforts and operates a rehabilitation centre for the animals, conduct an operation to rescue the caged animal in Yerevan ’s district of Malatia-Sebastia on March 18, 2025.
— Foundation for the Preservation of Wildlife and Cultural Assets handout pic via AFP! Plus, enjoy an additional FREE RM10 when you sign up using code VERSAMM10 with a min. cash-in of RM100 today. T&Cs apply. URTSADZOR , May 8 — For years, Syrian brown bears Nairi, Aram and their cub Lola were trapped in a three-metre-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. 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 check, anything,” said Tsovinar Hovhannisyan, conservation manager at the Foundation for the Preservation of Wildlife and Cultural Assets — an Armenian-based non-profit that spearheads the rescue efforts and operates a rehabilitation centre for the animals. After realising the scale of the problem, “we were certain we need this rehabilitation and rescue centre,” she added.
Demand for rare animals among Armenia’s ultra-rich has also been a persistent issue, according to a report from the Global Organized Crime Index. 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.
Bears, who were rescued from captivity, are seen in an enclosure at the Foundation for the Preservation of Wildlife and Cultural Assets — an Armenian-based charity that spearheads the rescue efforts and operates a rehaibilitation centre for the animals, in Armenia’s highlands near the village of Urtsadzor, 68km from Yerevan, on April 21, 2026. — AFP picWith Armenia set to host a COP summit on biodiversity in October, rescuers are racing to free the remaining bears.
They are trying to raise funds to expand.
“We know of several wild animals, not only bears, held by some of the key big oligarchs in Armenia,” said Poghosyan. “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,” she added. 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 that 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,” said Hovhannisyan. A bear, who was rescued from captivity, is seen in an enclosure at the Foundation for the Preservation of Wildlife and Cultural Assets . — AFP pic “We stood under the rain, more than eight hours, awaiting court for permission to get into the house and rescue the bears,” she said.
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 per cent fruit and vegetables — much of it grown at the refuge — and 20 per cent 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 — used to living in a “small space”, 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.
“They need to feel that they are wild. ” — AFP 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. — AFP pic
Syrian Brown Bears Foundation For The Preservation Of Wildlife Yerevan Wildlife Trafficking Armenia COP Summit Biodiversity
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