The Orphan Bears

Orphan The Bears

Valentin Pazhetnov Founded The Orphan Bear Rescue Centre, In Russia, In 1995.

Nestled in dense forest, 280 miles north west of Moscow, the centre’s amazing team, Sergey, Ekaterina and Vassily, rescue and raise brown bear cubs, preparing them for life back in the wild.

Since the centre began, 264 bears have been returned to the wild, many have then gone on to have cubs of their own! Born Free is delighted to support this remarkable work to protect brown bear populations in Russia – one cub at a time.

Orphaned bear cubs usually arrive between January and late April. These babies have often been left by their mothers who were scared away by human activity in the forest. The team works tirelessly to nurse the cubs back to health before preparing them for life back in the wild.

Only days old when they arrive, the cubs are often in a critical condition – very thin, injured, or suffering from hypothermia

(they are too cold).

The bears are released between August and October when they have reached the correct weight and have learnt the skills needed for an independent life back in the forest.