Taronga Vet Helps with Polish Bear Move

Taronga Vet Helps with Polish Bear Move

#Taronga Zoo Sydney

Posted on 17th June 2011 by Media Relations

It was pretty amazing. Basically, two European Brown Bears living in two tiny cages at a zoo in Poland had to be moved under instruction from the town’s local government authority. The rescue and move was coordinated by a bear rescue group called Vier Pfoten (Four Paws) and the bears were moved  to Bear Park Muritz in Germany.


The Berlin Institute of Zoo and Wildlife Research (IZW) was asked to provide vets to facilitate the move and I was asked by the IZW to join the project to move the bears.  I was quite amazed at the amount of media attention for the move which was a spectacle in itself for me. 


Happily the sedation and transfer was pretty straight forward. The bears were in surprisingly good physical condition and it looks like they’ll be very comfortable in their new home.


Taronga Senior Veterinarian, Larry


One of the bears is loaded into the waiting vehicle.


One of the bears is carried to waiting transport by IZW team members.