GRAEME HALEWOOD
Integrating a bear into the Libearty sanctuary means following some strict guidelines. If the bear’s medical history is unknown, he’ll be quarantined first for further examination and medical treatment. If the bear has medical records, and a medical check shows that he’s healthy, he’ll go straight to the second stage—adaptation to the natural environment in the training area. This is how Graeme and Halewood, the two bears brought from the Baia Mare Zoo in October, were introduced to the sanctuary.
The most beautiful moment in sanctuary life is the one when a bear walks out of its cage and steps—for the first time in its life—on the grass. The initial disorientation of open horizons and the uncertainty of stepping out onto the fragile ground is followed by an instinctive desire to climb fences and run away. This is how the second stage of the integration process into nature ends.
Eventually, the bear will touch the electric fence, and it isn’t a pleasant feeling. The electrical wires send an important message—don’t try to go past the fence! At first, Halewood refused to give up—he’d escaped from a cage, so he could escape from an enclosure, too. In his excitement and uncertainty as to what lay beyond, he started digging. Halewood had no way of knowing that the “security guard” with thousands of wired “eyes” stretches its net 1.5 meters below the ground. And every day, the sanctuary staff plugged the holes he’d created overnight. As soon as the new resident became convinced that he couldn’t escape, a sweet resignation followed—touched with the scent of freedom.
Inevitably, resignation is followed by exploration, when our residents begin to discover the advantages of living in a free space: having a bath in the swimming pools, climbing trees, sunbathing on the grass. Once the landscape no longer presents surprises, the new bears will focus on the other residents from larger enclosures. They sniff and look at each other, and they get acquainted. Then it’s time for the final stage—moving to the large enclosure. For a bear who has lived a lifetime in a twenty-square-foot cage, the ten-hectare third enclosure is like freedom!
