Happy Ending for Two Brown Bears Who Spent Years In a Cage Next to a Car Park

Campaign succeeds in rescuing two bears from a desolate roadside zoo in northern Spain. They’ll be taken to a wildlife sanctuary in Romania.

Mimo and Aran, a male and a female brown bear, have been kept in a small, barren cage beside a car park in the Val d’Aran in the Spanish Pyrenees since 2011.

These bears were clearly miserable in the deplorable conditions and exhibited signs of ongoing sickness, stereotypic behaviour and depression. Footage shows one of the bears hunched over and breathing rapidly, indications of a potentially serious illness.

But luckily for these two intelligent, sensitive animals, compassionate people learned of their plight and sprang into action. A campaign by the local animal rights group FAADA called on the authorities to remove the bears from this squalid roadside zoo, where none of their needs could be met.

As FAADA pointed out, the facility where the bears have been exhibited does not have a zoo license and therefore appears to be illegal under Spanish law. And of course, keeping wild animals in captivity in this way is unquestionably cruel.

PETA UK and the Spanish group AnimaNaturalis also sent a letter to Catalan authorities, backing FAADA’s campaign to have the bears sent to a sanctuary.

And we’re delighted to announce that after years of negotiations, the hard work has paid off. The authorities agreed to let Mimo and Aran be transferred to a wildlife sanctuary in Romania, where they’ll be able to do all the things that bears love to do: climb trees, bathe in lakes, roam freely in forests and seek a mate among the other bears.

Well done to everyone who was involved in this campaign! It’s a huge relief to know that these bears’ suffering is about to end and that they’ll finally have the freedom that they deserve.

Be part of more victories for animals – join PETA’s Action Team.