Bears are among the most majestic creatures on Earth — in my view, they belong in the wild and nowhere else.

And when you read the story of these bears, it only strengthens that belief.

For ten long years, two brown bears, Misha and Dasha, endured a heartbreaking existence in a cramped metal cage outside a restaurant in Armenia.

Their only purpose? To serve as tourist attractions. With no space to roam and nothing to stimulate their minds, they spent their days pacing in circles, climbing the bars, or banging their heads against the metal — desperate for any form of relief from their monotonous and cruel reality.

As if their captivity wasn’t bad enough, their cage was positioned dangerously close to a riverbank, leaving them at the mercy of seasonal floods. One year, disaster nearly struck when rising waters engulfed their tiny prison. The helpless bears came within inches of drowning, trapped behind iron bars with no way to escape.

”A few years back, the river flooded, and the bears almost drowned,” said Lis Key, PR and communications manager for International Animal Rescue (IAR). ”The rescue team had to cut through the cages to release them, so they must have been trapped when the river flooded and in serious danger of drowning.”

For years, IAR fought tirelessly to secure their freedom, working alongside the Foundation for the Preservation of Wildlife and Cultural Assets (FPWC) to convince the restaurant owners to release them. Finally, their relentless efforts paid off.

The rescue team arrived, armed with tools to cut through the cold steel that had imprisoned Misha and Dasha for a decade.

Once freed, the bears were sedated and transported to a sanctuary nestled in the mountains — a place where they could finally experience the life they had been cruelly denied. There, for the first time, they had the freedom to roam, explore, and simply be bears.

And then, something extraordinary happened. As winter approached, Misha and Dasha settled into a cave to hibernate. But when spring arrived, they emerged with a surprise — Dasha had given birth to two cubs!

Rescuers were stunned. No one had realized that Dasha was pregnant at the time of her rescue. “She received all necessary care after being rescued, enough fruits, veggies, nuts, and honey to gain weight and fat before hibernation … but nobody guessed her good appetite was a result of pregnancy,” said Vicky Mkrtchyan, environmental projects coordinator for FPWC.

Dasha, once a symbol of captivity and suffering, had become a devoted mother, fiercely protecting and nurturing her cubs in the safety of their new home.
“It was already uplifting to see Dasha freed from the barren cage by the river and start to take an interest in life and in her surroundings,” Mkrtchyan added. “Now, seeing her with her two little cubs is simply beautiful. It is so moving to reflect on her miserable life behind bars and then look at her now — a natural mother caring for her cubs, protecting them fiercely from the outside world.”