One-year-old Đuro, a brown bear cub, which was left by an unknown person at the gate of the Animal Shelter in the village of Blizna at the end of July last year, is still on that property near Podgorica.
A few days ago, the international animal protection organization "Four Paws" sent a request to the Ministers of Ecology, Agriculture and Forestry, Vladimir Martinović and Vladimir Joković, asking them to help relocate the bear.
"Solving the issue in question will be the subject of intersectoral discussions and meetings that will be held in the coming period, and this ministry, together with the Administration for Food Safety, Veterinary and Phytosanitary Affairs and the Inspection for Forestry, Hunting and Plant Protection, will actively participate in solving it", they told "Vijesta" from the Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Water Management.
According to Miljan Milicković, the brown bear cub, seven months old at the time, was left in a transporter by an unknown person at the gate of the property owned by Milicković at the end of July. The bear was then "temporarily" taken care of at his place, and in a prize game he organized on social networks, the bear was named Đuro.
"I am writing on behalf of the organizations 'Four Paws' and 'Animal Survival International' (ASI), in the hope that we will receive your support for the case of the brown bear Đura, who is in the 'Animal Shelter and Recovery of Montenegro', in the village of Blizna, in the vicinity of Podgorica. After our recent visit to the facility, it is clear to us that the situation is alarming and we are asking for support and immediate intervention to help relocate the cub," states, among other things, in the request sent to the addresses of the two departments on March 11, and which in front of the two of international organizations is signed by Patricia Tiplea.
Seriously worried
The representatives of "Four Paws" previously, at the end of February, held a meeting with the authorities in Montenegro: representatives of the Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Water Management, inspectors for ecology and hunting, representatives of the Environmental Protection Agency, and representatives of the Department of Tourism, Ecology, Sustainable Development and development of the north.
At the meeting, among other things, there was talk about Đur, but also the older bear, seven-year-old Ljubo, who has been on the same property since 2017.
In the "Four Paws" organization, as they stated in the letter submitted to "Vijesti", "they are seriously concerned about the safety of the Đura mosque". They claim that at the time when their representatives visited the shelter, Đuro showed "extremely stressful behavior", that he seemed frightened when he approached the older bear Ljubo.
"In addition, he is extremely thin for his age," the organization said regarding the condition of the younger bear.
As they stated in earlier addresses to the relevant ministries, "the situation with Đura is alarming and could be deadly" for him. They also claim that employees at the shelter announced that they intend to "socialize" both bears and "put them in the same enclosure."
"According to experts, this would mean a very high risk for Đuro's life, because Ljubo is obviously superior in size and age, and males often kill younger bears in nature. The socialization of bears requires months or years of professional work, and the socialization of bears of different ages in this environment is never recommended," stated international animal protection organizations.
As many times before, they announced again that it is necessary to urgently move Đura to a specialized shelter, prevent any socialization between the two bears and provide an expert veterinary assessment for both animals.
"It is also necessary for Đura to undergo a professional health assessment, because he is worryingly small for his age and is probably undernourished", they state.
They have accommodation, the consent of the state is necessary
As they added, for the adult bear Ljubo, such an assessment was recommended by experts in June of last year, but those recommendations have not yet been implemented.
"Four Paws", they add, can immediately provide veterinarians from partner organizations, such as the "Leibniz Institute for Zoo and Wildlife Research" in Berlin, who would perform tests on the spot.
For Đura, they say that he could immediately be moved to one of their specialized locations for bears, but for that, they add, they need the consent of the Department of Ecology and Agriculture and Forestry, i.e. the Environmental Protection Agency.
"All agencies and ministries should cooperate so that the welfare of animals comes first. "Four Paws" previously successfully moved two bears and one lion from Montenegro to specialized shelters, with the support of the Montenegrin authorities. That procedure should be repeated immediately," the international organization said.
The bears they are talking about are Brundo and Masha. They were about 2,5 months old when they were found in the den without their mother at the beginning of 2017. Brund and Maša were then taken over by Miljan Miličković and took care of them, with the claim that they were on his program of feralization.
Brundo and Maša were later sent to a rehabilitation center in Greece, and their rehabilitation, ASI announced earlier, failed due to previous "inappropriate behavior during their stay in a private zoo".
In the same year that he took care of Brund and Maša, a third bear, Ljubo, appeared at Milicković's house. Ljubo is still on the property in the village of Blizna, but its origin has never been explained.
The lion that they are talking about from the organization "Four Paws" was caught in the territory of the Municipality of Budva in early 2022. The lion is known as Nikola and, as the Directorate for Inspection Affairs (UIP) said, he is now in the Netherlands.
Unplanned topic
The UIP, whose ecological and forestry and hunting inspector attended the meeting with representatives of international organizations, among other things, told "Vijesta" that "in the request to hold the meeting, it was not proposed to discuss any specific case, not even individuals of a brown bear that are located on a private estate in the town of Blizna". They said that the representative of the "Four Paws" organization opened the topic with a specific question that referred to the brown bear Đura.
"As this topic was not planned, and as it was not possible to discuss specific cases, without proper preparation in terms of insight into specific data from the case, the inspector pointed to this, but also provided information about that case, and about the competences of the UIP inspections regarding the specific case and the competences of other authorities", they told "Vijesti".
In addition to other things, in their response to the editors, they also stated that at the time when Milicković reported that there was a transporter with a machete at the entrance to his property, they informed other competent authorities, the police, the prosecutor, the Environmental Protection Agency and the Ministry of Agriculture. forestry and water management.
The UIP added that due to the conditions in which the individual brown bear was found (small confined space, high air temperature, no food and water), the bear was "temporarily placed for safekeeping by the owner of the property in the town of Blizna... and only for the reason of ensuring that she does not die".
In the context of interest in the permanent care of that individual, the representatives of foreign NGOs were informed that the buck is the property of the State of Montenegro and that further decisions regarding its placement can only be made and found by the competent authorities - the Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Water Management as the line ministry for hunting and the Ministry of tourism, ecology, development of the north and sustainable development as the line ministry for nature protection.
They will report how Brundo and Maša are
At the meeting with the representatives of "Four Paws" and ASI, as they said from the UIP, the representatives of the Administration were also informed that the foreign organizations did not know that the state authorities of Montenegro did not receive information about the condition of Brund and Maša, which was an obligation in accordance with the agreement contract.
As they added, international organizations said that they would make an effort to provide the state of Montenegro with information regarding the bear cubs that were taken care of in Greece.
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