Five-year-old brown bear dear, which is located in the shelter for animals in the settlement of Blizna, close to Podgorica, is kept in defiance of all the guidelines for keeping such wild animals in captivity, the conditions in which it lives are unbearably cruel, and the state persistently ignores it.
This, among other things, is stated in the report of the International Organization for the Rescue of Animals (Animal Survival International, ASI), which "Vijesti" had access to. The report was made after members of the non-profit organization recently visited the property Miljan Milickovic, where five-year-old Ljubo is staying, along with other wild animals. ASI also said that the organization is looking for a solution and a way for the brown bear from the village of Blizna to be relocated to one of the reserves abroad.
"The cage in which he is confined barely leaves enough space for him to stand, and the bear suffers so much that he resorted to self-mutilation, biting his paws and the bars of the cage," said the executive director of ASI. David Barritt.
According to him, the owner of the site, which is called "Animal Shelter and Recovery Montenegro", encourages visitors to buy fruit and throw it through the bars of the cage, which, he claims, is additionally problematic for a wild animal standing in the middle of a pile of rotten fruit.
The conditions in which the bear Ljubo lives are shown in the video that ASI published on Twitter.
"The Montenegrin authorities know all this and acknowledge the cruelty in which bears are kept, but they still allow it to continue, explaining that it is a problem that is difficult to solve," said Barit.
He also said that there are things that can be done immediately.
"The owner should be forced to provide better living conditions for the bear and be punished with a heavy fine for every day the bear continues to live beyond that. Instead, the state closes its eyes to the problem," said Barit.
ASI and their sister organization "Animal Network", as he said, work intensively in Montenegro and are often surprised by the kindness of Montenegrins.
"This is not the fault of the people. This is the fault of the state and its institutions and, quite frankly, to allow such treatment of that wild animal to continue in this way is a stain on what is a good image of the country. It is incomprehensible that the state can allow this to continue," said Barit.
ASI, he said, is already contacting wildlife sanctuaries, trying to find a suitable safe place for Ljubo to be relocated.
The property where the "Animal Shelter and Recovery" is located, according to earlier statements by the owner, has an area of about 150 square meters. Miličković previously said that facilities were built on the property, according to "European regulations, for keeping and breeding game".
The conditions for keeping wild and protected animals are defined by the Law on Nature Protection and the Rulebook on the Closer Conditions for Keeping and Breeding Protected Wild Animals, and the Nature Protection Agency (EPA), as they told "News" earlier, also applies other international regulations in its work.
The rulebook on keeping protected wild animals was adopted more than ten years ago. According to that document, mammals cannot be kept exclusively in cages, but it is necessary to provide them with an organized outdoor space.
Thus, for a pair of brown bears, according to the regulations, at least 300 square meters of outdoor space and an additional six square meters of indoor space, per individual, must be provided. Montenegrin regulations do not provide for a swimming pool for brown bears, as is the case with the rules in Austria, which are also applied in neighboring Serbia. Thus, in those countries, the rules say that a pool with water is necessary for a brown bear, with an area of at least 20 square meters and a depth of 1,5 meters. Austrian rules also, when defining the conditions of the internal space, define a mandatory minimum of six squares per individual for the box, for the litter. The Montenegrin rulebook does not mention that.
In mid-February, the EPA announced that Milicković was approved to keep several wild animals on his property, including a brown bear. However, they also said that the Agency did not give a license to work to that "shelter", but only a temporary license to keep certain individuals.
"This Decision also established obligations, as well as closer conditions for keeping and breeding protected wild species of animals, which the owner Miljan Miličković does not respect," they said at the time.
Miljan Miličković has been taking care of wild animals on his private property for almost 15 years, but he first asked for a permit to keep them in May 2018, after he came into the public eye after two brown bear cubs from Pusta lisco near Nikšić ended up with him.
Milicković first asked for a permit for the temporary care of animals, so that he could, as he said earlier, save them in cooperation with the state or save the animals at least temporarily, until they are sent to specialized reserves.
In 2019, he applied to the EPA for a permit to keep the animals permanently. According to the data of the Central Register of Business Entities, the company DOO Export-Import "Zoo Park" was registered in his name.
The status of the illegal shelter in the village of Blizna has not been resolved to this day and it has not been officially registered.
The brown bear is a protected and autochthonous species in Montenegro.
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