Ljubljana/Vienna, 14 October 2025 – Bear Mici, one of the last two brown bears still kept in private captivity in Slovenia, will soon start her journey to a better, species-appropriate life, as announced earlier. In late November, the approximately 24-year-old female bear, who is currently kept at a restaurant in Žirovnica near Bled, will be rescued by global animal welfare organisation FOUR PAWS and transferred to BEAR SANCTUARY Arbesbach in Austria. The sanctuary is located 150 km north-west of Vienna and has recently also become the home of Slovenian bear Felix since his rescue on 8 May. Due to Mici’s pronounced nervousness, the FOUR PAWS team decided to transfer her to Arbesbach instead of BEAR SANCTUARY Müritz in Germany, as originally planned. A recently available enclosure in Arbesbach offers her even greater privacy, making it the ideal environment for her recovery.

To get used to her new surroundings Mici will receive her own enclosure but she will get the chance to interact with the neighbouring bear Erich through the fence.

Felix finally found his place in life

Bear Felix, who was rescued on 8 May from private keeping at a restaurant on a busy road in Kočevje, has settled in well at his new home. At BEAR SANCTUARY Arbesbach, the 34-year-old brown bear really enjoys wandering in his large and natural outdoor enclosure, taking dips in his pool and building cosy nests with straw. He also loves to explore the various enrichments provided to him and curiously inspects paper bags or cardboard boxes filled with treats and pine sawdust. The lovely oldie does not only have a great appetite for life but also for the big variety of food that is offered to him by his caretakers. Bear Felix particularly loves watermelons, grapes, walnuts, fresh lettuce and recently has discovered a taste for oranges. Since his arrival, bear Felix has made a lot of progress and acclimatised so well, that his caretakers now even expect him to go into hibernation this winter for the very first time in his life.

FOUR PAWS campaign for Slovenian bears

Since autumn 2022, FOUR PAWS has been advocating to rescue five bears from inappropriate private keeping in Slovenia. In 2024, a public campaign received overwhelming public support, with over 100,000 people worldwide joining the call to end the suffering of bears held at three restaurants and a private zoo. Unfortunately, two bears passed away last year. A major milestone was reached in May 2025 with the successful rescue of bear Felix. After Mici’s rescue in November, Tim will be Slovenia’s last bear in inappropriate keeping at an unlicensed zoo, near Ljubljana. FOUR PAWS is ready to give bear Tim a forever home at BEAR SANCTUARY Arbesbach, where he would receive a species-appropriate home and urgently needed veterinary care. The animal welfare organisation is asking his owner to surrender Tim as soon as possible, even before a planned ban on the private keeping of bears will come into force, which will make his current keeping illegal.

BEAR SANCTUARY Arbesbach

BEAR SANCTUARY Arbesbach (BÄRENWALD Arbesbach) in Austria is one of the 13 wild animal sanctuaries operated by the global animal welfare organisation FOUR PAWS. In 1998, it opened as FOUR PAWS first wild animal sanctuary to provide a safe haven for bears kept in poor circumstances. Just recently, BEAR SANCTUARY ARBESBACH was enlarged from 16,000 m² to 24,000 m². The sanctuary has seven large outdoor enclosures, which are several thousand square meters in size and offer natural environments for its bears. The sanctuary provides an appropriate, lifelong home for brown bears that were kept in inadequate conditions in circuses, private captivity and zoos. The sanctuary currently takes care of four bears: Brumca, Erich, Felix and Dunbar.