Help needed to bring these baby bears to a safe home at Wildwood Escot
Philippa Davies
Published: 11:46 AM June 29, 2020 Updated: 7:12 PM November 7, 2020
Mish and Lucy, needing a safe home at Wildwood Escot. Picture: Wildwood Trust - Credit: Archant
A crowdfunding appeal has been launched to give two orphaned bear cubs a new life at Wildwood Escot.
The baby bears were found in a snowdrift. Picture: Wildwood Trust - Credit: Archant
The baby bears were found in a snowdrift in the Albanian mountains by wildlife rescuers, who waited in vain for their mother to return.
The cubs could not have survived alone, so the rescuers looked after them and tried to return them to the wild, but all their attempts failed.
They are currently being well cared for at a facility in Belgium, but it cannot give them an environment like Wildwood Escot, where they will be able to explore, play and learn to forage.
General manager George Hyde said: "Mish and Lucy could not survive in the wild. Wildwood Escot will give them a unique natural woodland home that enables them to live full and rich lives in as close as possible to their natural habitat."
Rescuing one of the bear cubs. Picture: Albanian Wildlife Rescue Team - Credit: Archant
He is appealing for funds to bring the bears to the UK before the winter.
Wildwood Escot has already started preparing a natural woodland home for Mish and Lucy, and has applied for planning permission to build an enclosure.
But because of the coronavirus pandemic, this will take longer and be more expensive than it would normally,
The cost of transporting them safely to Wildwood, and building their new home providing them with everything they need, will be in the region of £250,000.
Mish and Lucy the cubs. Picture: Wildwood Trust - Credit: Archant
To donate visit the crowdfunding site https://chuffed.org/project/mish-and-lucy or call the donation hotline: 01227 712111.