Two years ago, the Libearty team’s emotions ran high as we rescued the oldest bear in Romania, called Prince Charles. The mission was risky due to the bear’s advanced age. Pushed by the approach of winter, the rescue team took a risk and tranquilized the bear to move him in his cage. Thanks to seven years of experience in working with large carnivores, the risk was well-calculated. Charles would not have survived if we had left him over the winter in the cage of the old zoo in Crângaşi near Focsani. The excitement of the mission changed to relief when the Prince entered the pool in his enclosure at the Libearty sanctuary. He wallowed for the first time in his life, after 41 years.
Nobody thought he’d make it through to spring, but two years have passed since then. Charles received medical treatment and the proper diet. He soon recovered and needed a friend. When Luna, the female wolf, moved into the same enclosure, the Prince became one of the most popular bears at the sanctuary. Their friendship crossed enclosure and sanctuary borders, and for the many animal lovers who visit Libearty, Charles will always remain ”the bear who had a wolf for a friend.”
Prince Charles passed away of natural causes at the age of 43, which is double the life expectancy of a brown bear in the wild. According the information AMP has at the moment, Charles was the oldest bear not only at the sanctuary, but in all of Romania. Despite the separation, the team is pleased that it could provide a wild animal two years of freedom after 41 years of jail. Charles has joined Maya and Ben, two bears, symbols of AMP’s seventeen-year fight to rescue the captive bears of Romania.
