Victor Watkins, representing the World Society for The Protection of Animals (WSPA), arrived in Romania, visiting the bears' reservation in Zarnesti, county of Brasov. Watkins fought for animal rights for decades and participated in the creation of 11 sanctuaries for abused bears.
"Your government should realize how important this treasure is and, instead of letting it be stolen, it should involve in preserving it, mainly after the most important newspapers and TV stations sent their reporters here", says Watkins.
Watkins worked in bears - related projects for the past 14 years, building sanctuaries in Greece, Turkey, India, Pakistan, Laos, Thailand, Romania and others. He is currently involved in a projects against the Chinese bear farms producing gall.
According to his information, there are tens of Carpathian bears who need help. The Libearty foundation gathered the funds required to launch a reservation project, with the official opening scheduled for this year. The reservation already has twenty bears, but the number may rise to 90.
In Watkins's opinion, the Government should harden the laws against poaching and confiscate the bears illegally owed by people.
The Zoo parks in Romania are also seen as extremely inadequate, although the militant says the situation is almost the same in all Zoo's.
"People are visiting less and less the zoo, preferring to go to a reservation, where they may truly learn something", Watkins says, warning that the 5000 bears in Romania represent a true treasure, compared to 10-20 bears living in France and around 100 in Greece.
HotNews.ro, Apr 27, 2007
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