Four Paws - Bringing Lions from a Romanian Zoo to South African 18.000 hectares savannah

I'd like to share a video with you, which shows one of the many things that the organisation I work for (Four Paws) is doing:



Four Paws is an NGO which fights for animal rights by bringing change through raising people's awareness, convincing governments to pass new laws and convincing companies to change their policies.
At the same time they are providing a life in dignity and freedom to many animals, which have suffered in horrible conditions (such as dancing bears, or restaurant bears), and provided a home for them in one of their three bear forests (Austria, Germany and Bulgaria), with food, health care and everything they need.

In Romania they raise bear orphans in a bear orphanage in Romania, who will be released to the wild once they are ready. (The bears became orphans because their mother has been shot by people or died during a cold winter)

In South Africa they take care of wild cats in their 18.000 hectares area, because they grew up in captivity, often in horrible conditions and will never be able to survive in the wilderness.

Only recently they rescued restaurant bears (bears who are held in captivity for tourists) in Kosovo and brought them to their new bear forest in Pristina.

FOUR PAWS vision is:
a world where humans treat animals with respect, empathy and understanding.

FOUR PAWS mission is:
to be the strong, global and independent voice for animals under human control.
• Creating sustainable solutions for animals in need
• Touching hearts, changing consumer behaviour
• Driving legal change
• Building powerful partnerships

http://www.vier-pfoten.org/en

During its existance there has been a lot of change in Austria and Europe, but there is still a long way to go.

More info:

Wild Animals in Circuses
VIER PFOTEN takes a stand for a general ban on wild animals in circuses and does so successfully: the Federal Council of Germany voted in favor of the ban and we filed a criminal complaint against Circus Krone for animal cruelty. VIER PFOTEN calls for the German Government to finally implement the Federal Council’s resolution on the ban and thousands of people supported our protest. Great news from Austria: here the constitutional court held up the ruling on the ban of wild animals in circuses which already had been established in 2004.

Fur Animals
Millions of wild animals suffer and die under gruesome conditions on fur farms. VIER PFOTEN is advocating a ban on fur farming throughout the E.U.
In Germany we have protested in front of fur farms and reported fur farmers to the authorities for ignoring new legislation concerning keeping conditions for minks. Fur does not only mean animal cruelty but can also pose a threat to human health, as attested in our study “Toxins in Fur 2011” which constitutes the largest analysis of toxins in fur products of the fashion industry ever published in Europe.


Lab Animals
In 2011 our commitment for the termination of animal testing focused primarily on the cosmetics sector. Our Campaign “The ugly face of animal testing for cosmetics” supported a sales and import ban for cosmetics utilizing animal testing within the E.U. from 2013 on. Tens of thousands of people already signed our petition.


Farm animals
Our campaigns to stop the force feeding of geese and the live feather plucking were successful; in 2011 in Austria all retailers phased out products from farms still using this practice following our campaigning and research. FOUR PAWS could even save a flock of geese from force feeding and rehomed them in a sanctuary.

We also advocated for better keeping conditions for rabbits and against battery cages for farmed rabbits. In 2011 new insights on alternative rabbit keeping became available; FOUR PAWS scientifically proved in co-operations with rabbit farms it is financially efficient and sustainable to keep rabbits in small groups together with the mother rabbit instead of the inhumane battery cages.

We kept working hard on improving the keeping conditions for laying hens. In Germany some supermarket chains like V-Markt and Feneberg still sell eggs from battery cages. FOUR PAWS protested in front of their shops in Munich, Kempten and Kaufbeuern. Although the battery cages in Austria are forbidden the producers and retailers still sell and use them in the production of pasta and convenience food; hidden cage eggs are also used in the restaurants. This year we started a research on the eggs origin and will contact the producers and do our best to change the situation.

Puppy trade
We continued campaigning against the illegal puppy trade. FOUR PAWS did research and uncovered cases of illegal trading with puppies all over Europe. We also created internet platforms which help seize this practice.

Disaster Relief missions in Libya and Pakistan
For the second year in a row, a team of FOUR PAWS Disaster Relief delivered essential help for animals during a major flood in Pakistan, this time in the region of Jhando Mari. The hard-hit farmers were provided with much needed fodder. In the Libyan capital Tripoli, 700 wild animals were severely threatened by starvation. The zoo staff had left the animals to their fate after the fighting had reached the city. A Disaster Relief team provided vital aid work, organised fodder supplies and brought in medicine and equipment from South Africa. Current plans are aiming at the zoo to be reformed to modern standards in order to improve the living conditions of the many traumatised animals quickly. Earlier in the year, the political unrest triggered another relief effort in Egypt, where 3000 and camels were fed and treated.


FOUR PAWS bear parks
Excellent work has also been done in the three FOUR PAWS bear sanctuaries: At DANCING BEARS PARK Belitsa, home to 25 former dancing bears and several animals rescued from bad keeping in zoos, another annual vet check was performed, with a respected veterinary team coming in and treating particularly serious cases and chronic ailments. At BEAR PARK Arbesbach six bears that used to live in private captivity are being cared for, whereas BEAR PARK Müritz was reopened after extensive expansion work. This also creates space for other animals that lack an appropriate habitat: in 2011 several bears have been transferred from Eastern European zoos. Also the BEAR ORPHANAGE Harghita, a cooperating facility in Romania, where foundlings are prepared for a life in freedom, took in new cubs.

Emergency Relieft in Libya during Libyan Civil War:

Hey, dude...Nice job with the lions. Great work and Congrats for you and your team. I also saw an half hours news report on TV about this rescue operation couple of weeks ago and I really admire their work. The Zoo from Onesti had to be shut down some couple of years ago, because the city loses population year by year. It was region with a high oil industry potential, but as soon as the oil extraction shut down the city started dying, as lots of other cities in Romania, that's why I think the Zoo was forgotten in time...Anyway nice job again and keep up the good work;)

Thanks for the support! It really is great to know what things they have already achieved and good to know that the work continues and the living conditions for animals gradually improve.