Today Bear Napa roams the several thousand square metre outdoor enclosure in Arosa Bear Sanctuary, and he can cool down in the pond or retire to his box whenever he wants. But, this was not always the case: Napa was born in a zoo in 2006 and probably joined the Serbian circus Corona as a young bear. It is not known, whether he actually had to perform in the circus arena there. In contrast to other countries, the ban of wild animals in circuses has been in force in Serbia since 2009. Therefore we assume, that Napa was just kept for years in a small cage on the circus grounds. 

Napa had a small amount of muscle mass at the time of confiscation. This was an indication that he had hardly any freedom of movement for years. His cage was dirty with food leftovers and rubbish and so small and low that he could not even stand up or turn properly.

In October 2016, Napa and the other two bears of Serbian Circus Corona were seized by environmental inspectors of the Provincial Secretariat for Urbanism and Environmental Protection in cooperation with the Ministry of Agriculture and Environmental Protection of Serbia. With support of FOUR PAWS, the bears were transferred to Serbian Zoos and housed their temporarily until the administrative process for their confiscation and final placement had been finalized. In July 2018, we were finally able to take Napa into our care!

The rescue team was on the road with Napa for around 28 hours. Over 1,400 km had to be covered from Serbia to Arosa, Switzerland. As the bear sanctuary is located in the ski area and thus at over 2000 above sea level, the transport box had to be moved to the gondola for the last part of the journey.

After his arrival, the 270 kg heavy brown bear was medically examined and then came into an acclimatisation enclosure. Here he could get used to his new freedom of movement and explore the area. The vet and bear keepers also had the opportunity to observe him closely during this phase. After about three weeks, Napa was allowed to explore the outdoor enclosure for the first time. He was very inquisitive and explored the meadows, forests, ponds and streams around the the 12,000 square metre area. The size and vegetation of the enclosure allows Napa to live a life as adapted as possible to the natural needs of bears. 

With heavy hearts, we have to say goodbye to our beloved bear Napa. After a serious illness, Napa was released from his suffering today at the age of 14 years.

Napa was able to start his journey into a new life and was brought to Arosa in summer 2018. He settled in quickly and adapted more and more natural behaviour, he learned what grass, earth and trees are, how to run down a slope, what foraging means and how snow feels. In 2019, the former restaurant bears Meimo and Amelia moved in, with whom Napa shared the almost 3-hectare natural enclosure.

In June of this year, Napa was diagnosed with epilepsy. Despite medical treatment and loving care, and although he seemed to recover somewhat in the meantime, his quality of life was significantly reduced and the prognosis for long-term improvement did not look good. The analysis of the responsible veterinarians and the caring animal keepers showed that Napa was suffering and that further treatment was the least likely to succeed. This is why the difficult decision has been made to relieve Napa of his suffering.

We are very sad and already miss Napa. His story of suffering had moved us all deeply and his journey back to natural behaviour impressed us all. It comforts us to know that he was allowed to spend the last 2.5 years of his life in such a beautiful place like the Arosa Bear Sanctuary in Switzerland. Napa will always be in our hearts and will remain a symbol for all the animals we are allowed to help!