Five bears released back into the wild by Arcturos

The Arcturos bear sanctuary in the village of Nymfaio, near Florina, on Tuesday announced that five orphan bear cubs that were cared for at its facilities have now been released back into the wild.

The five cubs had lost their mothers at just a few months old and were raised by expert handlers that taught them the secrets to surviving on their own without human assistance, which they would have normally learned from their mothers.

The five young bears include Luigi, who was found wandering alone on a motorway in Klidi, Florina in April last year, and Sofia from Triantafyllia, Florina. The other three bears were sent to Arcturos from Bulgaria by the animal conservation group Four Paws to be included in Arcturos' rehabilitation program.

The five cubs were kept separate from the other bears that are permanently resident in the Arcturos shelter so that they would...