On November 22nd, the 26 residents of Graemsay Island gathered at their community hall, celebrating the Harvest Home supper, a traditional meal of thanksgiving held after the yearly harvest has been brought in. It was the usual celebration, but this time the locals had another reason to be proud: a newly adopted member of the community. Not a child, a bear. A full–grown, twenty-one-year-old brown bear, who was rescued by the Libearty staff from the Baia Mare Zoo when it closed down in October. The islanders sponsored the rescue mission, so we named the bear in the honor of their island—Graeme.
So, with the islanders gathered to celebrate Harvest Home, it was a good time to be proud of a good deed. They shared pics and watched Graeme’s first walk on the grass just after he was released. All this took place in an atmosphere of music and joy. “The evening was a great success. We danced and partied ‘til 4 in the morning. We had several group photos taken with the children holding the certificate of adoption,” said resident Sue Anderson.
It all started in October, when Sue and the other trekkers that you met in the last issue of the newsletter came to the sanctuary. Sue heard the story of the blind bear that was held captive in a small cage in the Baia Mare Zoo and immediately decided to help. She and the rest of her neighbors from Graemsay Island raised money to help the poor bear. The rest is not history, but a new beginning for the bear, and some new responsibilities for the people of Graemsay. “It’s exciting to see that those most interested in the bears are the children, who are always asking me questions. They loved the photographs you sent, and we have pinned them all to the wall of the hall as a permanent reminder of our responsibilities to Graeme,” Sue told us.
