Over 8,000 Appeals: Park to Take Cafe Bear, With Condition

The Land of Pride lion park and wild animal rescue center in the Moscow region is ready to take the bear that has lived for 30 years in the Araik cafe near Krasnoyarsk. The shelter announced this on social media. However, they currently have no space for her.

Correction, 23 July. There was confusion about the bears. Initially, the news reported that the organization was preparing to take another, more famous bear — Mishka, who also lives in a roadside cafe — the Taiga near Balakhta. It turned out the bear in question was Kuzya from Araik.

The organization said that over the past week they received more than 8,000 appeals asking them to take the bear (they refer to her as a she-bear):

«Of course, many simply send videos and with a feeling of «duty fulfilled» go drink tea and live their best life. But that won«t help the little bear.»

The shelter claims they contacted the bear«s owners «personally» and offered to take her.

«If they are not ready to give her up voluntarily (for free), then we can try to buy this she-bear. <...> We can hope that they will sell her. We will try to help this she-bear,» the shelter assured.

At the end of the video, however, it is stated that the animal can be taken «in theory» for now, as soon as the shelter has a separate area for the bear.

«We can take this she-bear if we have the territory,» the shelter writes on social media. «Right now there is literally nowhere to place the bear because the land has simply run out.»

NGS24.RU did not receive a response from Land of Pride by the time of publication.

NGS24.RU reported on the bear Mishka, who has lived for decades in a cage at the roadside cafe Taiga, in January 2025. The topic was also raised in mid-summer 2026. People on social media were outraged that the animal is kept in captivity. On 2GIS, the cafe currently has a rating of one point, and users in reviews condemn Mishka«s fate.

However, hunting expert and Krasnoyarsk State Agrarian University (KrasGAU) lecturer Dmitry Belenyuk clarified to NGS24.RU that if the bear is released into the wild, it will quickly die because it is not accustomed to wild life.