Marko2024-01-17T11:15:30+00:00

Project Description

Marko and Maria arrived in “Libearty ” in 2011. They were kept for the amusement of customers of a restaurant in Tirana (Albania). A local woman, Montserrat Battlo, saw the miserable conditions in which the bears lived. She convinced the owner to give her the custody of the bears, while also taking on the responsibility of feeding them until she found a solution. She sent more than 600 e-mails all over the world, looking for a place for the two bears.

She contacted all the sanctuaries in the region, in Europe, America and Canada, as well as the major organizations, but got no help from anyone. She also wrote a letter to Mrs. Cristina Lapis, the president of the Million Friends Association, who agreed to take over the bears.

With the support of the British organization Hauser Bears, the two bears arrived safely at the Libearty sanctuary. After being microchipped, vaccinated and neutered, the two-year-old bears were released into the sanctuary’s forest, where they are finally free to run and climb trees, feel the grass under their paws and swim in the pool.