Out of the cage and into the wild, six bears released in Iraqi Kurdistan mountain

Record ID: 1600820

  • Title: Out of the cage and into the wild, six bears released in Iraqi Kurdistan mountain
  • Date: 11th February 2021
  • Summary: DOHUK, IRAQ (FEBRUARY 10, 2021) (REUTERS) BEAR IN CAGE BEAR JUMPING IN CAGE SURROUNDED BY ANIMAL RIGHTS DEFENDERS BEAR'S FACE SEEN THROUGH CAGE AND BEAR EXTENDING PAW TOWARDS CAMERA (SOUNDBITE) (Arabic) HEAD OF LOCAL 'KURDISH AMERICAN COOPERATION ORGANISATION', BLAND BRIFKANI, SAYING: "These bears live in homes, and we have convinced the owners of these bears to give them to us for free or for a symbolic amount." BREVAKANI PUTTING HONEY ON A PIECE OF BREAD BEAR BITING BAR OF CAGE BREVAKANI WALKING TOWARDS CAGE AND FEEDING BEAR VARIOUS OF BEAR EATING IN CAGE (SOUNDBITE) (Arabic) HEAD OF LOCAL 'KURDISH AMERICAN COOPERATION ORGANISATION', BLAND BRIFKANI, SAYING: "We will free six bears, tomorrow in the Gara mountain. We chose Gara mountain because of the bears like altitude and snow. We brought the bears from different places in Iraq and the Kurdistan region, from Basra, Amara, we even took one from Erbil." DOHUK, IRAQ (FEBRUARY 11, 2021) (REUTERS) VIEW FROM GARA MOUNTAIN VARIOUS OF BEAR IN CAGE MAN PULLING AT CAGE BEAR DRINKING WATER VARIOUS OF BEAR HESITATING TO GET OUT OF CAGE CAGES IN ROW SURROUNDED BY PEOPLE WHILE SOME OPEN CAGE OF ONE OF BEARS PEOPLE RUNNING AWAY FROM FREED BEAR VARIOUS OF BEAR WALKING IN SNOW (SOUNDBITE) (Arabic) VETERINARIAN AND ANIMAL RIGHTS ACTIVIST, SULEIMAN SAEED, SAYING: "All wild animals in Kurdistan and in every Iraqi governorate are about to be saved. As you know, Iraq passed through a lot of disasters, destruction, wars and there is wild (illegal) hunting. All our (wild) animals are in danger of extinction and some of them are already extinct." YOUNG BEAR CLIMBING OUT OF CAGE
  • Keywords: Animal rights Bears Cage Freedom Iraq Iraqi Kurdistan Mountain Wildlife
  • Reuters ID: LVA001DZ79KQV
  • Location: DOHUK, IRAQ
  • City: DOHUK, IRAQ
  • Country: Iraq
  • Duration: 00:03:35
  • Aspect Ratio: 16:9
  • Topics: Environment,Middle East,Nature/Wildlife
  • Story Text: On the tips of their paws, six Syrian brown bears stepped out of their cage on a Gara mountain slope for their first sniff of the wild on Thursday (February 11).
    For the third time in four years, the local non-profit 'Kurdish American cooperation organisation' released Syrian brown bears in the mountainous areas of Iraqi Kurdistan, where it has become almost extinct.
    A firm believer that bears should not be kept as pets in homes, the head of the organisation, Bland Brifkani, said he gets alerted by his network of animal rights activists throughout Iraq when bears are kept behind bars in private houses.
    According to veterinarian and animal rights activist Suleiman Saeed, keeping bears, tigers, or lions at home has become a new trend among Iraqis.
    He worries about the bears' well-being in the wild and says they should be rehabilitated first, for a duration of at least six months, to be able to fend for themselves.
    Shrugging of the critique, Brifkani says the bears can survive on their own and must be freed in the wild where they belong.
    At the risk of extinction in Iraq because of illegal hunting, wars, and a lack of measures to protect wildlife, Syrian brown bears are bought into the country by wealthier families who wish to keep them at home, Saeed said, adding that sometimes cubs also get stolen from their mothers by hunters.
    There have been no recorded incidents between bears and humans over the last couple of years, Saeed said. However, bears coming out of captivity might try to get close to human settlements and expose themselves to the danger of hunters there.
    Although they disagree on how bears should be released in the wild, Brifkani and Saeed both agree that Iraq needs a law forbidding keeping wild animals at home.
    (Production: Kawa Omar, Maher Nazeh, Charlotte Bruneau, Paul Warren, Angus Randall)
  • Copyright Holder: REUTERS
  • Copyright Notice: (c) Copyright Thomson Reuters 2021. Open For Restrictions - http://about.reuters.com/fulllegal.asp
  • Embargoed:25th February 2021 15:46
  • Usage Terms/Restrictions: None
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