28-year-old Giorgakis, the grandfather of the “Arktours” Bear Protection Center, was taken to his own “apartment”, in a wooded area of Nymphaeum, as he developed cataracts and lost his sight.
28-year-old Giorgakis, the grandfather of the “Arktours” Bear Protection Center, was taken to his own “apartment”, in a wooded area of Nymphaeum, as he developed cataracts in both eyes, as a result of which he lost his sight.
Giorgakis will enjoy the “apartment” of the Refuge in Nymphaeum, where Andreas, the bear – symbol of the organization, who died in 2013 at a record age of 50, lived for about 10 years.
Giorgakis was confiscated in 1995, at the age of 1.5 years, for possessing a bear cub in Alexandria, Imathia. He was severely abused (punctured lip, broken teeth, disfigured muzzle and was clearly malnourished) by the bear bearer who was holding him captive. After two years of intensive treatment and care at the Veterinary Station, Giorgakis was transferred to the Bear Protection Center.
“Gyorgakis is the last dancing bear we host and when he became blind we decided to move him to a separate section, not accessible, where he will live alone safely and without being disturbed by other bears”, the communication manager tells APE-MPE of “Arkturos” Panos Stefanos, adding that bears in the wild live about 20-25 years.
“Giorgakis”, he continues, “was close to another old bear, the 27-year-old Irini, for many years and they hung out together all day, while he was quite friendly and receptive to the young and new bears at the Refuge”.
Older females but healthy!
Older but in better health are two female bears of the Shelter, namely Katerina who has turned 34 and Tasoula who is 29!
In fact, as a grandmother, Katerina is the first to hibernate and the last to wake up. In 2021, he missed the Shelter officials a bit as when he woke up, he had problems with movement, which were attributed after tests to arthritic.
Katerina was spotted just a few months old in the summer of 1988 in Heroes’ Square in Florina by local residents. He was transferred to the Zoological Garden of the city, where he lived for 10 years and then transferred to Nymphaeum.
“In total, we host 18 bears in the sanctuary. After Katerina, the oldest is the 29-year-old Tasoula, who was found in April 1993 by a local shepherd, outside the village of Pedinos in Florina, climbing a tree.
Perhaps her mother ran away, after being chased by sheepdogs. Tasoula was about two months old and weighed only four and a half kilograms. Efforts to find her mother were unsuccessful, so Tassoula became a permanent guest of the Center,” says Mr. Stefanou.
“Arcturos”, in the context of protecting and feeding the bears, also promotes their “adoption”, while those who wish to support the care of Giorgakis, can find information here: https://www.arcturos.gr/adoption/giorgakis
RES-EMP
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