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  • A polar bear and her four-month-old cub are seen here leaving the maternity den and venturing into the outdoors in an impossibly cute video. The cub is the first polar bear to be born in the UK for 25 years and is now starting to explore the outdoor enclosure at the Royal Zoological Society of Scotland’s Highland Wildlife Park. In the video the mother Victoria is seen walking out of the maternity den first, before her precious little cub emerges behind her keeping close to his mother. The pair are then seen foraging around in the grassy outdoor enclosure, which was witnesses by visitors at the park for the first time this week [21 March, 2018]. Previously the polar bear enclosure had been closed to the public to allow the bears the privacy required in the early weeks after birth. Una Richardson, head keeper at the RZSS Highland Wildlife Park in Kincraig near Kingussie, said, “Having spent four months in her maternity den, Victoria quickly took the chance to go outside. “Understandably, her cub has been more cautious and is still getting used to new sights, smells and sounds.” Douglas Richardson, the park’s head of living collections, said, “Our pioneering captive polar bear management programme closely mirrors what happens in the wild and this birth shows our approach is working. “This is vital because a healthy and robust captive population may one day be needed to augment numbers in the wild, such are the threats to the species from climate change and human pressures. “The reintroduction of polar bears would be an enormous task but we need to have the option. While our cub will never be in the wild, there is a chance its offspring may be in decades to come.” The birth of the cub and journey so far is also being filmed for a forthcoming Channel 4 documentary. 23 Mar 2018 Pictured: A polar bear and her cub — the first to be born in the UK in 25 years - are seen emerging from their maternity den at the Royal Zoological Society of Scotland’s High
    MEGA188198_003.jpg
  • A polar bear and her four-month-old cub are seen here leaving the maternity den and venturing into the outdoors in an impossibly cute video. The cub is the first polar bear to be born in the UK for 25 years and is now starting to explore the outdoor enclosure at the Royal Zoological Society of Scotland’s Highland Wildlife Park. In the video the mother Victoria is seen walking out of the maternity den first, before her precious little cub emerges behind her keeping close to his mother. The pair are then seen foraging around in the grassy outdoor enclosure, which was witnesses by visitors at the park for the first time this week [21 March, 2018]. Previously the polar bear enclosure had been closed to the public to allow the bears the privacy required in the early weeks after birth. Una Richardson, head keeper at the RZSS Highland Wildlife Park in Kincraig near Kingussie, said, “Having spent four months in her maternity den, Victoria quickly took the chance to go outside. “Understandably, her cub has been more cautious and is still getting used to new sights, smells and sounds.” Douglas Richardson, the park’s head of living collections, said, “Our pioneering captive polar bear management programme closely mirrors what happens in the wild and this birth shows our approach is working. “This is vital because a healthy and robust captive population may one day be needed to augment numbers in the wild, such are the threats to the species from climate change and human pressures. “The reintroduction of polar bears would be an enormous task but we need to have the option. While our cub will never be in the wild, there is a chance its offspring may be in decades to come.” The birth of the cub and journey so far is also being filmed for a forthcoming Channel 4 documentary. 23 Mar 2018 Pictured: A polar bear and her cub — the first to be born in the UK in 25 years - are seen emerging from their maternity den at the Royal Zoological Society of Scotland’s High
    MEGA188198_002.jpg
  • A polar bear and her four-month-old cub are seen here leaving the maternity den and venturing into the outdoors in an impossibly cute video. The cub is the first polar bear to be born in the UK for 25 years and is now starting to explore the outdoor enclosure at the Royal Zoological Society of Scotland’s Highland Wildlife Park. In the video the mother Victoria is seen walking out of the maternity den first, before her precious little cub emerges behind her keeping close to his mother. The pair are then seen foraging around in the grassy outdoor enclosure, which was witnesses by visitors at the park for the first time this week [21 March, 2018]. Previously the polar bear enclosure had been closed to the public to allow the bears the privacy required in the early weeks after birth. Una Richardson, head keeper at the RZSS Highland Wildlife Park in Kincraig near Kingussie, said, “Having spent four months in her maternity den, Victoria quickly took the chance to go outside. “Understandably, her cub has been more cautious and is still getting used to new sights, smells and sounds.” Douglas Richardson, the park’s head of living collections, said, “Our pioneering captive polar bear management programme closely mirrors what happens in the wild and this birth shows our approach is working. “This is vital because a healthy and robust captive population may one day be needed to augment numbers in the wild, such are the threats to the species from climate change and human pressures. “The reintroduction of polar bears would be an enormous task but we need to have the option. While our cub will never be in the wild, there is a chance its offspring may be in decades to come.” The birth of the cub and journey so far is also being filmed for a forthcoming Channel 4 documentary. 23 Mar 2018 Pictured: A polar bear and her cub — the first to be born in the UK in 25 years - are seen emerging from their maternity den at the Royal Zoological Society of Scotland’s High
    MEGA188198_001.jpg
  • A polar bear and her four-month-old cub are seen here leaving the maternity den and venturing into the outdoors in an impossibly cute video. The cub is the first polar bear to be born in the UK for 25 years and is now starting to explore the outdoor enclosure at the Royal Zoological Society of Scotland’s Highland Wildlife Park. In the video the mother Victoria is seen walking out of the maternity den first, before her precious little cub emerges behind her keeping close to his mother. The pair are then seen foraging around in the grassy outdoor enclosure, which was witnesses by visitors at the park for the first time this week [21 March, 2018]. Previously the polar bear enclosure had been closed to the public to allow the bears the privacy required in the early weeks after birth. Una Richardson, head keeper at the RZSS Highland Wildlife Park in Kincraig near Kingussie, said, “Having spent four months in her maternity den, Victoria quickly took the chance to go outside. “Understandably, her cub has been more cautious and is still getting used to new sights, smells and sounds.” Douglas Richardson, the park’s head of living collections, said, “Our pioneering captive polar bear management programme closely mirrors what happens in the wild and this birth shows our approach is working. “This is vital because a healthy and robust captive population may one day be needed to augment numbers in the wild, such are the threats to the species from climate change and human pressures. “The reintroduction of polar bears would be an enormous task but we need to have the option. While our cub will never be in the wild, there is a chance its offspring may be in decades to come.” The birth of the cub and journey so far is also being filmed for a forthcoming Channel 4 documentary. 23 Mar 2018 Pictured: A polar bear and her cub — the first to be born in the UK in 25 years - are seen emerging from their maternity den at the Royal Zoological Society of Scotland’s High
    MEGA188198_005.jpg
  • A polar bear and her four-month-old cub are seen here leaving the maternity den and venturing into the outdoors in an impossibly cute video. The cub is the first polar bear to be born in the UK for 25 years and is now starting to explore the outdoor enclosure at the Royal Zoological Society of Scotland’s Highland Wildlife Park. In the video the mother Victoria is seen walking out of the maternity den first, before her precious little cub emerges behind her keeping close to his mother. The pair are then seen foraging around in the grassy outdoor enclosure, which was witnesses by visitors at the park for the first time this week [21 March, 2018]. Previously the polar bear enclosure had been closed to the public to allow the bears the privacy required in the early weeks after birth. Una Richardson, head keeper at the RZSS Highland Wildlife Park in Kincraig near Kingussie, said, “Having spent four months in her maternity den, Victoria quickly took the chance to go outside. “Understandably, her cub has been more cautious and is still getting used to new sights, smells and sounds.” Douglas Richardson, the park’s head of living collections, said, “Our pioneering captive polar bear management programme closely mirrors what happens in the wild and this birth shows our approach is working. “This is vital because a healthy and robust captive population may one day be needed to augment numbers in the wild, such are the threats to the species from climate change and human pressures. “The reintroduction of polar bears would be an enormous task but we need to have the option. While our cub will never be in the wild, there is a chance its offspring may be in decades to come.” The birth of the cub and journey so far is also being filmed for a forthcoming Channel 4 documentary. 23 Mar 2018 Pictured: A polar bear and her cub — the first to be born in the UK in 25 years - are seen emerging from their maternity den at the Royal Zoological Society of Scotland’s High
    MEGA188198_004.jpg
  • July 21, 2019 - Grizzly Bear Cub (Credit Image: © Richard Wear/Design Pics via ZUMA Wire)
    20190721_zza_rf01_059.jpg
  • EXCLUSIVE: A rescued pair of twin bear sisters forced to perform in a circus all their lives have experienced a freedom for the first time in 24 YEARS. Dasha and Katia were just weeks old when they were taken from their mother and sold to a circus in Ukraine. Since then all the sisters have known is training and performing up to three shows a day. When not doing tricks like riding bicycles and jumping through hoops for a paying audience, the 400lb plus animals were kept in tiny 1.5m cages. They were behind bars just inches from one another but could never touch. But now after a quarter of a century in captivity the two bears can sleep under the stars for the first time in the stunning forest-filled Libearty (correct spelling) Bear Sanctuary, in Zarnesti, Romania. Heart-warming footage and photos taken this week show the animals rolling around in the grass with joy and being able to nuzzle and bear hug one another for the first time. The bears arrival in Romania was only made possible thanks to Lionel De Lange, from the Lawrence Anthony Earth Organization (LAEO) Ukraine, and Chantal Jonkergouw and Carolyn Green, from SOS Zoo and Bear Rescue. Lionel and Chantal and their supporters raised £14,000, including donations from the UK, to rescue the animals in March and then transport, medically check and care for the them before they were released on Wednesday. Lionel de Lange, from LAEO Ukraine, said the sisters, who were originally known as Masha and Lora, had proper contact with each other for the first time. He said: “This was one the most emotional rescues we’ve done, if you can imagine it’s 24 years of these bears never having proper contact with each other, they were always in separate cages. “And when they were close to each other in the cages they had aggression, not with each other but with bars between them. They always seemed angry at one another. “But then when they let them out at Libearty they had a snuggle and a cuddle and it was just amazing to
    MEGA527541_008.jpg
  • EXCLUSIVE: A rescued pair of twin bear sisters forced to perform in a circus all their lives have experienced a freedom for the first time in 24 YEARS. Dasha and Katia were just weeks old when they were taken from their mother and sold to a circus in Ukraine. Since then all the sisters have known is training and performing up to three shows a day. When not doing tricks like riding bicycles and jumping through hoops for a paying audience, the 400lb plus animals were kept in tiny 1.5m cages. They were behind bars just inches from one another but could never touch. But now after a quarter of a century in captivity the two bears can sleep under the stars for the first time in the stunning forest-filled Libearty (correct spelling) Bear Sanctuary, in Zarnesti, Romania. Heart-warming footage and photos taken this week show the animals rolling around in the grass with joy and being able to nuzzle and bear hug one another for the first time. The bears arrival in Romania was only made possible thanks to Lionel De Lange, from the Lawrence Anthony Earth Organization (LAEO) Ukraine, and Chantal Jonkergouw and Carolyn Green, from SOS Zoo and Bear Rescue. Lionel and Chantal and their supporters raised £14,000, including donations from the UK, to rescue the animals in March and then transport, medically check and care for the them before they were released on Wednesday. Lionel de Lange, from LAEO Ukraine, said the sisters, who were originally known as Masha and Lora, had proper contact with each other for the first time. He said: “This was one the most emotional rescues we’ve done, if you can imagine it’s 24 years of these bears never having proper contact with each other, they were always in separate cages. “And when they were close to each other in the cages they had aggression, not with each other but with bars between them. They always seemed angry at one another. “But then when they let them out at Libearty they had a snuggle and a cuddle and it was just amazing to
    MEGA527541_001.jpg
  • EXCLUSIVE: A rescued pair of twin bear sisters forced to perform in a circus all their lives have experienced a freedom for the first time in 24 YEARS. Dasha and Katia were just weeks old when they were taken from their mother and sold to a circus in Ukraine. Since then all the sisters have known is training and performing up to three shows a day. When not doing tricks like riding bicycles and jumping through hoops for a paying audience, the 400lb plus animals were kept in tiny 1.5m cages. They were behind bars just inches from one another but could never touch. But now after a quarter of a century in captivity the two bears can sleep under the stars for the first time in the stunning forest-filled Libearty (correct spelling) Bear Sanctuary, in Zarnesti, Romania. Heart-warming footage and photos taken this week show the animals rolling around in the grass with joy and being able to nuzzle and bear hug one another for the first time. The bears arrival in Romania was only made possible thanks to Lionel De Lange, from the Lawrence Anthony Earth Organization (LAEO) Ukraine, and Chantal Jonkergouw and Carolyn Green, from SOS Zoo and Bear Rescue. Lionel and Chantal and their supporters raised £14,000, including donations from the UK, to rescue the animals in March and then transport, medically check and care for the them before they were released on Wednesday. Lionel de Lange, from LAEO Ukraine, said the sisters, who were originally known as Masha and Lora, had proper contact with each other for the first time. He said: “This was one the most emotional rescues we’ve done, if you can imagine it’s 24 years of these bears never having proper contact with each other, they were always in separate cages. “And when they were close to each other in the cages they had aggression, not with each other but with bars between them. They always seemed angry at one another. “But then when they let them out at Libearty they had a snuggle and a cuddle and it was just amazing to
    MEGA527541_007.jpg
  • EXCLUSIVE: A rescued pair of twin bear sisters forced to perform in a circus all their lives have experienced a freedom for the first time in 24 YEARS. Dasha and Katia were just weeks old when they were taken from their mother and sold to a circus in Ukraine. Since then all the sisters have known is training and performing up to three shows a day. When not doing tricks like riding bicycles and jumping through hoops for a paying audience, the 400lb plus animals were kept in tiny 1.5m cages. They were behind bars just inches from one another but could never touch. But now after a quarter of a century in captivity the two bears can sleep under the stars for the first time in the stunning forest-filled Libearty (correct spelling) Bear Sanctuary, in Zarnesti, Romania. Heart-warming footage and photos taken this week show the animals rolling around in the grass with joy and being able to nuzzle and bear hug one another for the first time. The bears arrival in Romania was only made possible thanks to Lionel De Lange, from the Lawrence Anthony Earth Organization (LAEO) Ukraine, and Chantal Jonkergouw and Carolyn Green, from SOS Zoo and Bear Rescue. Lionel and Chantal and their supporters raised £14,000, including donations from the UK, to rescue the animals in March and then transport, medically check and care for the them before they were released on Wednesday. Lionel de Lange, from LAEO Ukraine, said the sisters, who were originally known as Masha and Lora, had proper contact with each other for the first time. He said: “This was one the most emotional rescues we’ve done, if you can imagine it’s 24 years of these bears never having proper contact with each other, they were always in separate cages. “And when they were close to each other in the cages they had aggression, not with each other but with bars between them. They always seemed angry at one another. “But then when they let them out at Libearty they had a snuggle and a cuddle and it was just amazing to
    MEGA527541_002.jpg
  • EXCLUSIVE: A rescued pair of twin bear sisters forced to perform in a circus all their lives have experienced a freedom for the first time in 24 YEARS. Dasha and Katia were just weeks old when they were taken from their mother and sold to a circus in Ukraine. Since then all the sisters have known is training and performing up to three shows a day. When not doing tricks like riding bicycles and jumping through hoops for a paying audience, the 400lb plus animals were kept in tiny 1.5m cages. They were behind bars just inches from one another but could never touch. But now after a quarter of a century in captivity the two bears can sleep under the stars for the first time in the stunning forest-filled Libearty (correct spelling) Bear Sanctuary, in Zarnesti, Romania. Heart-warming footage and photos taken this week show the animals rolling around in the grass with joy and being able to nuzzle and bear hug one another for the first time. The bears arrival in Romania was only made possible thanks to Lionel De Lange, from the Lawrence Anthony Earth Organization (LAEO) Ukraine, and Chantal Jonkergouw and Carolyn Green, from SOS Zoo and Bear Rescue. Lionel and Chantal and their supporters raised £14,000, including donations from the UK, to rescue the animals in March and then transport, medically check and care for the them before they were released on Wednesday. Lionel de Lange, from LAEO Ukraine, said the sisters, who were originally known as Masha and Lora, had proper contact with each other for the first time. He said: “This was one the most emotional rescues we’ve done, if you can imagine it’s 24 years of these bears never having proper contact with each other, they were always in separate cages. “And when they were close to each other in the cages they had aggression, not with each other but with bars between them. They always seemed angry at one another. “But then when they let them out at Libearty they had a snuggle and a cuddle and it was just amazing to
    MEGA527541_011.jpg
  • EXCLUSIVE: A rescued pair of twin bear sisters forced to perform in a circus all their lives have experienced a freedom for the first time in 24 YEARS. Dasha and Katia were just weeks old when they were taken from their mother and sold to a circus in Ukraine. Since then all the sisters have known is training and performing up to three shows a day. When not doing tricks like riding bicycles and jumping through hoops for a paying audience, the 400lb plus animals were kept in tiny 1.5m cages. They were behind bars just inches from one another but could never touch. But now after a quarter of a century in captivity the two bears can sleep under the stars for the first time in the stunning forest-filled Libearty (correct spelling) Bear Sanctuary, in Zarnesti, Romania. Heart-warming footage and photos taken this week show the animals rolling around in the grass with joy and being able to nuzzle and bear hug one another for the first time. The bears arrival in Romania was only made possible thanks to Lionel De Lange, from the Lawrence Anthony Earth Organization (LAEO) Ukraine, and Chantal Jonkergouw and Carolyn Green, from SOS Zoo and Bear Rescue. Lionel and Chantal and their supporters raised £14,000, including donations from the UK, to rescue the animals in March and then transport, medically check and care for the them before they were released on Wednesday. Lionel de Lange, from LAEO Ukraine, said the sisters, who were originally known as Masha and Lora, had proper contact with each other for the first time. He said: “This was one the most emotional rescues we’ve done, if you can imagine it’s 24 years of these bears never having proper contact with each other, they were always in separate cages. “And when they were close to each other in the cages they had aggression, not with each other but with bars between them. They always seemed angry at one another. “But then when they let them out at Libearty they had a snuggle and a cuddle and it was just amazing to
    MEGA527541_004.jpg
  • EXCLUSIVE: A rescued pair of twin bear sisters forced to perform in a circus all their lives have experienced a freedom for the first time in 24 YEARS. Dasha and Katia were just weeks old when they were taken from their mother and sold to a circus in Ukraine. Since then all the sisters have known is training and performing up to three shows a day. When not doing tricks like riding bicycles and jumping through hoops for a paying audience, the 400lb plus animals were kept in tiny 1.5m cages. They were behind bars just inches from one another but could never touch. But now after a quarter of a century in captivity the two bears can sleep under the stars for the first time in the stunning forest-filled Libearty (correct spelling) Bear Sanctuary, in Zarnesti, Romania. Heart-warming footage and photos taken this week show the animals rolling around in the grass with joy and being able to nuzzle and bear hug one another for the first time. The bears arrival in Romania was only made possible thanks to Lionel De Lange, from the Lawrence Anthony Earth Organization (LAEO) Ukraine, and Chantal Jonkergouw and Carolyn Green, from SOS Zoo and Bear Rescue. Lionel and Chantal and their supporters raised £14,000, including donations from the UK, to rescue the animals in March and then transport, medically check and care for the them before they were released on Wednesday. Lionel de Lange, from LAEO Ukraine, said the sisters, who were originally known as Masha and Lora, had proper contact with each other for the first time. He said: “This was one the most emotional rescues we’ve done, if you can imagine it’s 24 years of these bears never having proper contact with each other, they were always in separate cages. “And when they were close to each other in the cages they had aggression, not with each other but with bars between them. They always seemed angry at one another. “But then when they let them out at Libearty they had a snuggle and a cuddle and it was just amazing to
    MEGA527541_010.jpg
  • EXCLUSIVE: A rescued pair of twin bear sisters forced to perform in a circus all their lives have experienced a freedom for the first time in 24 YEARS. Dasha and Katia were just weeks old when they were taken from their mother and sold to a circus in Ukraine. Since then all the sisters have known is training and performing up to three shows a day. When not doing tricks like riding bicycles and jumping through hoops for a paying audience, the 400lb plus animals were kept in tiny 1.5m cages. They were behind bars just inches from one another but could never touch. But now after a quarter of a century in captivity the two bears can sleep under the stars for the first time in the stunning forest-filled Libearty (correct spelling) Bear Sanctuary, in Zarnesti, Romania. Heart-warming footage and photos taken this week show the animals rolling around in the grass with joy and being able to nuzzle and bear hug one another for the first time. The bears arrival in Romania was only made possible thanks to Lionel De Lange, from the Lawrence Anthony Earth Organization (LAEO) Ukraine, and Chantal Jonkergouw and Carolyn Green, from SOS Zoo and Bear Rescue. Lionel and Chantal and their supporters raised £14,000, including donations from the UK, to rescue the animals in March and then transport, medically check and care for the them before they were released on Wednesday. Lionel de Lange, from LAEO Ukraine, said the sisters, who were originally known as Masha and Lora, had proper contact with each other for the first time. He said: “This was one the most emotional rescues we’ve done, if you can imagine it’s 24 years of these bears never having proper contact with each other, they were always in separate cages. “And when they were close to each other in the cages they had aggression, not with each other but with bars between them. They always seemed angry at one another. “But then when they let them out at Libearty they had a snuggle and a cuddle and it was just amazing to
    MEGA527541_009.jpg
  • EXCLUSIVE: A rescued pair of twin bear sisters forced to perform in a circus all their lives have experienced a freedom for the first time in 24 YEARS. Dasha and Katia were just weeks old when they were taken from their mother and sold to a circus in Ukraine. Since then all the sisters have known is training and performing up to three shows a day. When not doing tricks like riding bicycles and jumping through hoops for a paying audience, the 400lb plus animals were kept in tiny 1.5m cages. They were behind bars just inches from one another but could never touch. But now after a quarter of a century in captivity the two bears can sleep under the stars for the first time in the stunning forest-filled Libearty (correct spelling) Bear Sanctuary, in Zarnesti, Romania. Heart-warming footage and photos taken this week show the animals rolling around in the grass with joy and being able to nuzzle and bear hug one another for the first time. The bears arrival in Romania was only made possible thanks to Lionel De Lange, from the Lawrence Anthony Earth Organization (LAEO) Ukraine, and Chantal Jonkergouw and Carolyn Green, from SOS Zoo and Bear Rescue. Lionel and Chantal and their supporters raised £14,000, including donations from the UK, to rescue the animals in March and then transport, medically check and care for the them before they were released on Wednesday. Lionel de Lange, from LAEO Ukraine, said the sisters, who were originally known as Masha and Lora, had proper contact with each other for the first time. He said: “This was one the most emotional rescues we’ve done, if you can imagine it’s 24 years of these bears never having proper contact with each other, they were always in separate cages. “And when they were close to each other in the cages they had aggression, not with each other but with bars between them. They always seemed angry at one another. “But then when they let them out at Libearty they had a snuggle and a cuddle and it was just amazing to
    MEGA527541_005.jpg
  • EXCLUSIVE: A rescued pair of twin bear sisters forced to perform in a circus all their lives have experienced a freedom for the first time in 24 YEARS. Dasha and Katia were just weeks old when they were taken from their mother and sold to a circus in Ukraine. Since then all the sisters have known is training and performing up to three shows a day. When not doing tricks like riding bicycles and jumping through hoops for a paying audience, the 400lb plus animals were kept in tiny 1.5m cages. They were behind bars just inches from one another but could never touch. But now after a quarter of a century in captivity the two bears can sleep under the stars for the first time in the stunning forest-filled Libearty (correct spelling) Bear Sanctuary, in Zarnesti, Romania. Heart-warming footage and photos taken this week show the animals rolling around in the grass with joy and being able to nuzzle and bear hug one another for the first time. The bears arrival in Romania was only made possible thanks to Lionel De Lange, from the Lawrence Anthony Earth Organization (LAEO) Ukraine, and Chantal Jonkergouw and Carolyn Green, from SOS Zoo and Bear Rescue. Lionel and Chantal and their supporters raised £14,000, including donations from the UK, to rescue the animals in March and then transport, medically check and care for the them before they were released on Wednesday. Lionel de Lange, from LAEO Ukraine, said the sisters, who were originally known as Masha and Lora, had proper contact with each other for the first time. He said: “This was one the most emotional rescues we’ve done, if you can imagine it’s 24 years of these bears never having proper contact with each other, they were always in separate cages. “And when they were close to each other in the cages they had aggression, not with each other but with bars between them. They always seemed angry at one another. “But then when they let them out at Libearty they had a snuggle and a cuddle and it was just amazing to
    MEGA527541_006.jpg
  • EXCLUSIVE: A rescued pair of twin bear sisters forced to perform in a circus all their lives have experienced a freedom for the first time in 24 YEARS. Dasha and Katia were just weeks old when they were taken from their mother and sold to a circus in Ukraine. Since then all the sisters have known is training and performing up to three shows a day. When not doing tricks like riding bicycles and jumping through hoops for a paying audience, the 400lb plus animals were kept in tiny 1.5m cages. They were behind bars just inches from one another but could never touch. But now after a quarter of a century in captivity the two bears can sleep under the stars for the first time in the stunning forest-filled Libearty (correct spelling) Bear Sanctuary, in Zarnesti, Romania. Heart-warming footage and photos taken this week show the animals rolling around in the grass with joy and being able to nuzzle and bear hug one another for the first time. The bears arrival in Romania was only made possible thanks to Lionel De Lange, from the Lawrence Anthony Earth Organization (LAEO) Ukraine, and Chantal Jonkergouw and Carolyn Green, from SOS Zoo and Bear Rescue. Lionel and Chantal and their supporters raised £14,000, including donations from the UK, to rescue the animals in March and then transport, medically check and care for the them before they were released on Wednesday. Lionel de Lange, from LAEO Ukraine, said the sisters, who were originally known as Masha and Lora, had proper contact with each other for the first time. He said: “This was one the most emotional rescues we’ve done, if you can imagine it’s 24 years of these bears never having proper contact with each other, they were always in separate cages. “And when they were close to each other in the cages they had aggression, not with each other but with bars between them. They always seemed angry at one another. “But then when they let them out at Libearty they had a snuggle and a cuddle and it was just amazing to
    MEGA527541_003.jpg