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Get you up to speed: Rescuers save bears from cages in Russia for life in Irish forest | News World
Two brown bears, Bu and Tyapa, were successfully relocated from cages in Dagestan, Russia, to a forest in Donegal, Ireland, following a five-year rescue operation. They arrived in Dublin on August 3, 2023, after being transported by Etihad Airlines with medical tests revealing serious health issues due to prolonged dehydration.
The successful transport of Bu and Tyapa involved over 100 individuals coordinating a complex logistical operation that included a 36-hour drive across Russia and multiple international flights. Following their arrival in Ireland on August 3, medical tests indicated that both bears are now recovering, with their kidney function normalised, although they continue to exhibit signs of fear and stress from their previous conditions.
Killian McLoughlin, founder of Wild Ireland, stated the bears were “left to rot” and emphasised the importance of public support in their rescue, noting, “these bears mattered and now so many others do too.” The bears are currently adjusting to their new environment, with caretakers focusing on their rehabilitation and ensuring they feel safe in their forest habitat.
What remains unclear — It is not specified how long Bu and Tyapa may need to fully adapt to their new environment.
Bears Bu and Tyapa relocated to Irish forest after rescue from Russia
Bu and Tyapa were living in cages with limited access to water and basic resources in Dagestan, Russia (Picture: Wild Ireland)
A pair of brown bears have been successfully relocated from Russia to an Irish forest following a daring five-year rescue effort.
Bu and Tyapa were confined to cages at a pet sanctuary in Dagestan, a south western republic on the Caspian Sea.
After being reportedly bred to be killed for taxidermic purposes, Tyapa was denied basic resources and were kept in an enclosure just two metres high, leaving him unable to stand upright and relying on water fed to him by hosepipes to drink.
He was kept with no roof above his head, exposing him to searing heat in the summer and freezing temperatures during Dagestan’s harsh winters.
Bu spent a life performing for audiences at a circus, before being cooped in a small indoor cage with limited water supply.
Transporting the pair was a huge logistical challenge, given the distance of more than 4,000km and no direct flights between Russia and most European countries.
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Plans had initially been put in place for the bears to travel by road, over the border to Ukraine and into eastern Europe.
The two brown bears were transported to Donegal in Ireland via Abu Dhabi after solicitors fought to secure their safe rescue from Russia (Picture: Wild Ireland)
However, Russian’s invasion in February 2022 and subsequent sanctions imposed by western countries forced lawyers to look for a new route for the animals.
Dima and Yana Kim, workers at Tiger House, a sanctuary caring for former circus animals in St Petersburg, made the 36-hour drive across Russia to free the ursines.
The bears had to be cut out of their cages, which were rusting, before being sedated so they could be safely transported to Ireland.
Back in St Petersburg, medical tests showed both bears were suffering from serious kidney problems due to their prolonged dehydration, as well as malnourishment and mental trauma.
The pair were then flown to Ireland via Abu Dhabi in the UAE, with the help of state-owned Etihad Airlines, who agreed to ship the animals in a cargo aircraft at a reduced price.
Some 100 people were involved in the transport operation, which saw the bears finally land in Dublin on August 3 this year.
They were then carried by lorry to Donegal to be quarantined and relocated to their new home in the forest.
Blood test show their kidneys are now functioning normally, although the bears remain frightened of open spaces, deep water, wind and the movement of trees.
The bears were carried on an Etihad Airlines flight from St Petersburg to the UAE, before being flown to Dublin due to the lack of direct flights from Russia (Picture: Wild Ireland)
Wild Ireland founder Killian McLoughlin said the bears had been ‘left to rot’.
When I saw how many people had turned out to help in Russia, Abu Dhabi and Ireland some with tears in their eyes, I believed these bears mattered and now so many others do too,’ she said.
‘They just needed someone to tell their story. These bears had spent years with so few people looking out for them, and now there were so many people who cared.’
Ms McLoughlin added the bears were still adapting to their new surroundings.
She explained: ‘Things we might expect a bear to enjoy can frighten them because they have never had the chance to experience them before.
‘We have experience rehabilitating rescued animals, and we will work at their pace. If they want to spend time in their smaller houses, that’s okay too. It is all part of their rehabilitation. Our job is to give them what they need to feel safe.’
The pair can be viewed by visitors although the dense forest means they are free to seek privacy if they want.
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October 12, 2024
6:18 am
‘Cheer up, you caught the bad guy,’ says killer Virginia McCullough as she is arrested for murdering her parents
A woman who murdered her parents “in cold blood” before hiding them in makeshift tombs for four years told officers to “cheer up, you caught the bad guy” as she was arrested in her home.
Virginia McCullough, 36, poisoned her father John McCullough, 70, with prescription medication and fatally stabbed her mother Lois McCullough, 71, shortly afterwards in 2019.
She ran up large debts on credit cards in her parents’ names and after their deaths, she continued to spend their pensions until she was finally caught in 2023.
In body-worn video footage released by police, a handcuffed – and eerily calm – McCullough told officers: “I did know that this would kind of come eventually.
“It’s proper that I serve my punishment.”
She said she had slipped something into her father’s drink then put his body under a bed on the ground floor, and put her mother’s body in an upstairs wardrobe.
McCullough, having been arrested on suspicion of double murder, told an officer: “Cheer up, at least you’ve caught the bad guy.”
She added: “I know I don’t seem 100% evil.”
At the police station, she told officers where a kitchen knife was, which she described as a “murder weapon”, and a hammer which she said “will still have blood on it”.
McCullough, of Pump Hill, Chelmsford, Essex, was sentenced to life imprisonment on Friday with a minimum term of 36 years at Chelmsford Crown Court, after she admitted to their murders between 17 and 20 June 2019 at an earlier hearing at the same court.
Chelmsford Crown Court heard how she hid their bodies in makeshift tombs at the family home in Great Baddow in Essex, then told persistent lies to cover her tracks.
The court heard she cancelled family arrangements and frequently told doctors and relatives her parents were unwell, on holiday or away on lengthy trips.
But concerns over Mr and Mrs McCullough’s welfare were raised in September 2023 by a GP at their registered practice, and Essex County Council’s safeguarding team referred these to police.
The GP had not seen the couple for some time and said Mr McCullough had failed to collect medication and attend scheduled appointments. It was found McCullough had frequently cancelled appointments, using a range of excuses to explain her father’s absence.
Police said a missing persons investigation was initially launched and McCullough lied to officers, claiming her parents were travelling and would be returning in October.
It became a murder investigation, and when officers forced entry to the house in Pump Hill on September 15 2023, McCullough confessed that her parents’ bodies were in the house and that she had killed them.
Nicola Rice, a specialist prosecutor for the Crown Prosecution Service, said: “McCullough callously and viciously killed both of her parents before concealing their bodies in makeshift tombs within their home address.
“She spent the next four years manipulating and lying to family members, medical staff, financial institutions, and the police, spending her parents’ money and accruing large debts in their name.”
She added: “This was a truly disturbing case, which has left behind it a trail of devastation, and I can only hope that the sentence passed today will help those who loved and cared for Lois and John begin to heal.”
To downplay the genocide, the israelis claim there’s only 20,000 people left in north Gaza, says
@MahaGaza
: the real number exceeds 400,000
Man of the right wing Nigel Farage taking more second jobs and freebie helicopter rides
Gosh he’ll soon be a true blue Tory at this rate
Or far far worse
The cost-of-living crisis is far from over, yet the government’s 50% increase to the bus fare cap is a political choice, adding hundreds to annual costs.
To address hardship & the climate crisis, the government must keep the £2 cap & make public transport accessible for all.
G20 waters down support for Ukraine amid pressure for peace talks
The Tech Titan Who Led His Company From a 68-Square-Foot Jail Cell
November 23, 2024
8:25 am
Defense alliance NATO chief Mark Rutte has met US President-elect Donald Trump to discuss global security issues, according to a NATO spokesperson.
The meeting took place in Palm Beach, Florida.
During his first term as US president, 2017-2020, Trump pushed for European NATO countries to spend more on defense and described the alliance’s cost-sharing as unfair to the US.
Rutte took over as NATO chief from Norwegian Jens Stoltenberg in November.
Before taking office in January, Trump has nominated Pete Hegseth for the post of defense secretary, which has raised eyebrows among many allies.
Hegseth, 44, has served as an infantry captain in Iraq and Afghanistan, but has no senior military or government officer experience.
November 23, 2024
8:25 am
November 23, 2024
8:17 am
Multiple missiles were fired in an airstrike towards a densely populated part of Lebanon’s capital early on Saturday.
The huge airstrike targeted Beirut’s Basta neighbourhood, and no prior warnings were given by the Israeli military. The largely residential area was struck last month.
At least one violent explosion was heard across the city, Reuters witnesses said, and plumes of smoke could be seen. Scenes of massive destruction at the site were shared online, including a massive crater in the ground.
“Beirut, the capital, woke up to a horrific massacre, as the Israeli enemy’s air force completely destroyed an eight-story residential building with five missiles on Al-Mamoun Street in Basta,” the state-run National News Agency reported.
The health ministry put the initial death toll at four, with 23 wounded. The number is expected to climb in the coming hours as search and rescue efforts continue.
It came after a long day of Israeli airstrikes on Beirut’s southern suburbs, which have been non-stop since last week.
The cross-border fighting between Israel and the Iran-backed Hezbollah militant group escalated into a full-blown war in mid-September.
Israel has bombed southern Lebanon, Beirut’s southern suburbs and the eastern Beqaa region, and has sent ground troops across the border. Hezbollah has continued to fire rockets deeper into Israel.
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