Bears Held Captive for 10 Years at Tashir Dairy Factory

In the city of Tashir, Lori Province, two bears are kept in captivity under poor conditions at a cheese factory. According to initial reports, the bears are being held in an area adjacent to the factory, which previously housed a sewing workshop, reports EcoNews.am, an environmental information website.

According to the information obtained, the bears are kept in a space belonging to Tashir Dairy LLC. Responding to the first publication, another citizen reported,

“Indeed, the bears are kept in terrible conditions. I have seen them several times, and passersby also come close to watch. Well, this area belongs to Samvel and Karen Karapetyan.”

The source also contacted Vahe Karapetyan, the elder son of former MP Karen Karapetyan, one of the owners of the Tashir group of companies, who confirmed the information and provided detailed insights into the case.

During the conversation, which included an employee responsible for animal care, it became clear that the bears kept near the cheese factory and sewing workshop are from the wild, having ended up in captivity in 2008, presumably due to illegal hunting.

It was detailed how the animals found themselves in captivity:

“About 10 years ago, a bear was killed in the forests near Stepanavan and Alaverdi, and a local resident found the cubs. Later, they approached us, stating that they had contacted the zoo, but it wouldn’t take them. At that time, as you may recall, the conditions at the zoo weren't very good. To be honest, since we love nature and animals, we run environmental programs, we asked that they not be discarded or given to someone’s yard; we built a cage and started caring for the bears. We even offered the zoo to keep them while we would finance their food, but they said that the financial situation there was so bad that it was unclear what would happen next. Then we heard that things had changed, they had some new director, etc.”

Essentially, Samvel Mikayelyan not only failed to disclose the illegal hunting that occurred, but also participated in subsequent actions. Aside from this circumstance, the nature and quality of the professional advice provided by the former chief veterinarian raises doubts, as it is unusual for a veterinarian to be involved in the design of bear cages.