Two brown bears previously acquired by regional governments in Spain, are being moved from a small cage at the back of a public car park to a Romanian sanctuary.
 
Mimo and Aran are two brown bears. Mimo is a 23 year old male who is owned by the Catalan Government and has been kept in captivity in Arties, Spain, since 1995. Aran, a 10-12 year old female, is owned by the Aran Government and has been in Arties since 2011. Aran had been bought from Parque de Cabárceno Natural Park in Spain.
 
ENDCAP member organisation Foundation for the Assessment and Action in Defense of Animals (FAADA), first became involved in helping these bears in 2012 by facilitating an agreement between the city of Arties, the Conselh Generau d’Aran and the Government to allow the removal of the bears.
 
The original plan was for the bears to be taken to a halfway house facility in Belgium, however FAADA has confirmed that this will no longer be necessary and that the bears can go straight to Shrine Libearty Bear sanctuary in Romania. It took three years for the three administrations to agree to the move and share the costs.
 
ENDCAP are delighted with the news. Mimo and Aran will live the rest of their lives in the forests of Libearty Bear Sanctuary. FAADA describes the facilities as “ideal conditions for them to recover both physically and psychologically.”