An unlikely refugee from the war in Ukraine — a rare Asiatic black bear — arrived at his new home in Scotland on Friday and quickly took to a meal of cucumbers and watermelon.
The 12-year-old Yampil was named for a village in the Donetsk region where he was one of the few survivors found by Ukrainian troops in the remains of a bombed-out private zoo.
Yampil, who had previously been called Borya, was discovered by soldiers who recaptured the devastated city of Lyman during the Kharkiv counteroffensive in the fall of 2022, said Yegor Yakovlev of Save Wild, who was among the first of many people who led the bear to a new life.
Tbf if I found a bear I wouldn’t know what to do at first either.
It’s so fucking random, even in a bombed out zoo.
(The correct answer is to step back, leave it an escape, and call someone that does know what to do. This is usually true of all large or dangerous animals.)(alternatively, take a selfie with it!)
In any case they went to a lot of effort to get that bear safe. They’re good people.
As long as your camera has a physical shutter button, the bear can take the selfie and you can focus on stepping away.
evidence
hahah.
I think I recognize that one from the Katmai Fat Bear contest.