BEAR SANCTUARY Prishtina is located 20 kilometres from the capital of Kosovo near the village of Mramor. The land allocated for the sanctuary by the Municipality of Prishtina covers an area of 16 hectares. Currently, approx. 10 hectares have been developed and provide a near-natural habitat and lifelong home to brown bears formerly kept as restaurant bears in Kosovo and Albania. Three of the bears, now living here, were bought when they were only a few weeks old and kept illegally as pets by Kosovan families. They were discovered and confiscated by the Kosovan police and transferred to BEAR SANCTUARY Prishtina in spring 2014. Here, the bears have the chance to live under professional supervision and in an environment suited to their species.

In June 2019, we managed to rescue the bear cub, that was living under terrible conditions in a wooden box in a garage. Now we have 20 bears in our sanctuary.

Thanks to the work of FOUR PAWS and BEAR SANCTUARY Prishtina, no bears have been kept in captivity by private owners since 2014.