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I thought you would like to know that Victor Watkins has published a book about the Romania Bear Sanctuary, details for you below.
NEW BOOK – Bear Sanctuary. By Victor Watkins
This wonderfully illustrated new book tells the story of how and why an oak forest in the heart of Romania became transformed into a retirement home for bears rescued from years of suffering in captivity.
Bear Sanctuary, written by Victor Watkins , tells of how young bear cubs were illegally caught from the wild in Romania and kept in cages near petrol stations and restaurants to attract customers. It also describes how captive bears were suffering from poor diets and little or no veterinary care in many zoos around the country.
With changing attitudes towards wildlife exploitation and with Romania becoming a member of the European Union, the time was right to ban the private keeping of captive bears and to close down the poorly managed zoos.
The Romanian bear sanctuary was the dream of a Romanian woman - Cristina Lapis, who persuaded the authorities to enforce the law and confiscate all illegally held bears. An international animal protection group – the World Society for the Protection of Animals ( WSPA ) funded the construction of the sanctuary.
The Romanian bear sanctuary sits in 160 acres of oak forest in the foothills of the Carpathian Mountains in central Transylvania . The land, donated by the nearby town of Zarnesti , provides space for more than 50 rescued bears which now live in this idyllic sanctuary. Here, they can feel the earth and grass beneath their paws, climb trees and swim in pools while feeding on a rich natural diet for the first time since they were captured from the forests as cubs. But there are more bears in need of rescue.
Victor’s book explains how each rescued bear has its own story. He describes the veterinary care the bears need, what their diet is in the wild and how bear cubs, orphaned through hunting, need care and rehabilitation to enable their release back to the wild.
There is also a section in the book about other bear sanctuaries around the world - in Turkey , Greece , Thailand and even in China .
The book, priced at £12.99, can be ordered from www.bearsanctuary.com . A kindle e-book version van be ordered from the Amazon kindle store.
Thanks to everyone who has supported me and Chris on our trek - not long to go now, there is still time to buy a lovely bear or to sponsor us. www.dawnandchrisbeartrek.co.uk and www.justgiving.com/dawnandchris
GJOYful BearsThat's so fantastic - the book and what you are doing for the bears. I am browsing your sites to choose a bear to help. Could you PM me or just let me know how I would go about donating one of my bears to be sold or auctioned for this cause? It's something I'd love to support. I'm currently making a realistic grizzly bear and he'd be a fantastic bear for someone to buy as a reminder of what they have helped and also a fantastic way to help the bears.
Bear hugs to you you are doing a wonderful thing 
