By Press Release
Sandown’s Wildheart Animal Sanctuary is embarking on another ambitious rescue, this time to save two European brown bears, Benji and Balu, from a miserable life in Azerbaijan.
The ‘restaurant bears’ have spent their lives illegally imprisoned in a concrete cage next to a restaurant, living off scraps of food or whatever customers threw their way, with no respite from gaping tourists. They were found malnourished and starving, with severe and painful damage to their teeth from stress-induced bar-biting. They are currently still languishing in the tiny metal cage with nowhere to hibernate, no water for bathing, no soil under their feet and, at the moment, no prospect of a better life.
Wildheart, renowned for rescuing severely abused animals, is planning to rescue Benji and Balu and provide them with a forever home here on the Island. The sanctuary needs to build a new 3,500 square metre (37,674 sq ft) habitat, complete with pools, streams, caves, boulders, platforms, woodland and all the ‘bear necessities of life’! This will help them recover from their painful early life, feel grass under their feet for the first time, and live out their days in peace. To make this dream a reality, the sanctuary needs to raise £150,000 to build the new enclosure.
Head of fundraising, Christine Harty, said: “We know this will be a monumental undertaking; however, we believe with the help of our amazing community on the Isle of Wight and across the UK, we can ensure Benji and Balu get the second chance in life they deserve.
“Every pound raised will help get us closer to our goal to bring Benji and Balu home.”
Chief operating officer, Lawrence Bates, added: “This will be an iconic moment in the Sanctuary’s history, and one of the most urgent and ambitious rescues we have ever undertaken. Bears are characterful and intelligent animals, so their suffering seems even more poignant. We are working around the clock to get Benji and Balu to safety as quickly as possible, and we look forward to sharing their story with the Island as we go forwards.”
Find out more and donate via iw.observer/benji-balu.
You can see a video of Benji and Balu here.
