This year, we received a request for help from a friendly organisation, the Brown Bear Rehabilitation Centre, which is managed by the Synevyr National Nature Park and operates in the Transcarpathian oblast.
The Brown Bear Rehabilitation Centre has been operating since 2011, and currently rehabilitates 32 bears that were taken from circuses, petting zoos, and confiscated from smugglers. In previous years, we participated in several consulting and veterinary missions with the support of various organisations, including the Ministry of Environment, the Four Paws International Foundation, the Inna Vasylkovskaya Veterinary Clinic, the Kyiv Zoo, the Elite Vet Dnipro Clinic, etc. We helped rescue bears, transport them, sterilise them, treat their teeth, and also advised on ways to improve their welfare and process organisation. During this time, we have established good professional and personal relations with the administration of the park and the centre, and we are ready to help them.
With the financial support of the Italian charity organisation LAV, we organised the arrival to Synevyr and the work of surgeons and anesthesiologists from the Veterinary Clinic of Inna Vasylkovska and veterinary dentist Maryna Sikorska.
One animal was examined and three operations were successfully performed under general anaesthesia: multiple tooth extractions (14), detailed clinical examinations (3), blood sampling (6) and one castration. All bears underwent a normal postoperative recovery process. The arrival of the veterinary team and the castration of the young male bear were extremely timely, as it turned out that he had recently broken a canine tooth near the neck. This is a serious injury for young animals, since at his age the canal has not yet narrowed and is filled with pulp, nerve endings and blood vessels. As a result, an infection has already set in, causing pain and posing a threat to the animal’s health. In summary, the successful collaboration of several organisations has resulted in providing care to three critically ill animals and improving their welfare and quality of life.
