Latvia set to hold double ursine auction / Article

Two bears are to be sold at auction in Demene parish, Augšdaugava municipality – according to an announcement posted on the national auction website by the Nature Conservation Authority (DAP). The auction is intended for the disposal of ‘state movable property’ – in this case extremely movable.

Meanwhile, a letter of concern and a request to help with donations for the maintenance of the two bears has been distributed on social media by the mini zoo “Raptors Park” in Demene parish, under whose care the two bear cubs grew up, and the zoo owners are hopeful that the bears could stay there.

Two protected brown bears (ursus arctos) – a male and a female – ended up in the mini-zoo “Raptors Park” in the southernmost point of Latvia, in Brigene, Demene parish, a few years ago. Someone simply dumped the bears there, said the owner of the private zoo, Aleksandrs Kalačovs.

“A criminal case was initiated, but it was closed without any result. So both bears became state property, because, most likely, they were forest dwellers, but everything that comes from nature belongs to the state. These bears have been living with us for three years. It turns out that we are keeping these bears at our own expense, even though they are state property, and we constantly have to account to the state for something, even though we have no rights to these bears. And now the state has decided to sell these bears at auction,” said Kalačovs.

Both animals are state property; the rules say state property must be sold

Gita Strode, Director of the Nature Conservation Department of the National Park Service, confirmed the bear keeper’s story about how they ended up in his zoo, why this auction is taking place, and emphasized the seriousness of this situation: “Both animals are state property that was seized as part of a criminal proceeding. Since this criminal proceeding was concluded, it was a situation where these small animals ended up in this zoo. In order to find out where they were taken or brought from in the wild, this criminal proceeding was also initiated. We do not have an animal shelter in the country for such cases, and Riga Zoo cannot always help either… according to these regulations, these bear cubs, which are now large bears, must be sold as state property; we cannot simply hand them over.”

The animals’ current keeper was asked to chip and sterilize both bears at his own expense. He declined to do so. Strode said: “These animals are still state property, but the keeper of these animals still provides all the necessary conditions. He did not like this decision, so it was contested.”

To maintain just one bear, you need at least 10 kilograms of apples per day, around 5 kilograms of special food, 7 kilograms of meat, and vitamins depending on the season. There is also the small matter of a bear enclosure.

Bears don’t understand auctions, laws and formalities, said the owner of the private zoo, Alexandrs Kalačovs, they only know where they are fed, where they are safe.

The zoo wants to buy both bears and has asked for financial support from fellow humans. The DAP does not object to such a course of action, but the law is the law and says that an auction is required.

“If the owner of this zoo auctions and buys these animals, then from now on he treats them as his own property. We, as a state, can no longer ask him to do anything contrary to his interests as the owner. However, this does not change the fact that when keeping animals, the requirements of regulatory enactments must be followed, there must be a registered place or zoo, and in this case it already is,” said Strode.

If there are no bidders at the auction, the consequences for the bears could be dire. Strode explained: “Then we will have to make the most radical decisions – euthanasia of the animals if we cannot find another place, but there are no other options.”

As a result, on December 12th, the DAP placed an advertisement on the auction portal for the sale of both brown bears. The starting price of the auction is 1,700 euros, with each subsequent step being 50 euros. You can apply for the auction until December 22, and the auction is due to close on January 5. But remember: a bear is for life, not just for Christmas.

Tell us about a mistake