Prizor medveda zaprtega v majhnem prostoru, ki je služil kot maskota domačega živalskega vrta, sem videla pred leti v Srbiji in ker je medved veljal za nekakšno atrakcijo, me je zanimalo, ali je možno ta prostor ponovno izslediti, pri tem kaj storiti in medveda osvoboditi. Odprla se je tragična zgodba, namreč leta 2011 je medved z imenom Miša ubil človeka in pri tem bil ustreljen.
(Slovenian above | English below)
V okolici mesta Zrenjanin se nahaja t. i. etno vasica Tiganjica v sklopu katere je restavracija pod imenom Trofej in mini živalski vrt. Medved Miša je bil zaščitni znak te turistične atrakcije in eden glavnih razlogov, zakaj so družine obiskale to restavracijo. Zraven medveda so si lahko ogledali srne, zajce, razne ptice in druge živali, a nobena ni požela toliko pozornosti kot medved, ki je v času vojne v Bosni izgubil svojo mamico in so ga vojaki pripeljali sem. Ko sem to mesto obiskala, me je razžalostil pogled na ograjene živali, še posebej močnega medveda v premajhnem prostoru.
To bijte, potrebuje velik prostor, veliko gibanja in pa svobodo. In če so za ugrabitev in izkoriščanje živali pogosto uporabljeni izgovori v smislu, češ da žival ne bo znala preživeti saj od majhnega živi od ljudi, to za medvede sigurno ne velja. Ob vsem tem me čudi pomanjkanje empatije in brezobzirnost. Tako se je lani zbirala peticija za osvoboditev polarnega medveda, ki je bil ”razstavljen” v nekem kitajskem nakupovalnem centru z namenom, da pritegne ljudi in da ti naredijo kak slefi. Tri leta star medvedek z imenom Pizza je ob pomanjkanju prostora, masi ljudi in dejstvu, da ni videl sonca ali bil na svežem zraku, v agoniji zabijal glavo v zid. Ko je več kot pol milijona ljudi podpisalo peticijo in zahtevalo od tako imenovanega Grandview akvarija (če temu prostoru sploh lahko tako rečem), da se medvedka umakne iz nakupovalnega centra, so po nekem času dosegli vsaj to, da so medveda premestili v zoo.
Če je tako težko vživeti se v občutenje medveda, si lahko predstavljaš sebe v majhni zaprti celici, po možnosti brez naravne svetlobe in brez možnosti gibanja. Mislim, da bi vsako bitje doživelo živčni zlom ali izbruh agresije. Le kako ne bi. In to se zgodi živalcam v ujetništvu. In ko naslovnice napolnijo naslovi »Orka napadla trenerja; ali kako so levi v živalskem vrtu napadli dreserja in kako so sloni ponoreli« in podobne izjave, takrat vsi opisujejo kako so živali krvoločne zveri, ki komaj čakajo, da napadejo človeka, nihče pa se ne vpraša, kakšno ima vlogo pri tem človek.
In da se vrnem nazaj na zgodbo o medvedu Miši, ki privabljal je goste v restavracijo in vasico, ki želela je obuditi star način bivanja in postati tako zanimiva turistična kmetija. V začetku septembra leta 2011 je ob 13. uri medved Miša napadel Veroniko Sarčev, 59 leto gospo, ki je medveda in ostale živali hranila. Kako je do napada v kletki prišlo, ni bilo ravno jasno. Priče pravijo, da jo je medved zgrabil za glavo in ji zadal rane, zaradi katerih je kmalu umrla. Ko so prišli policisti, je bila gospa že pokojna, na sugestijo ljudi, pa je policaj ustrelil medveda. Lasnika restavracije so privedli k sodniku in začelo se je izmotavanja, češ da ne vedo, zakaj je bila v medvedji kletki in klasični primeri ne sprejemanja odgovornosti, namreč gospa uradno ni bila zaposlena, kljub temu pa se je vedelo, da je za delo hranjena živali in čiščenja ter urejanja okolja dobila plačilo približno 100 evrov na mesec. Lastnik restavracije Zoran Ostojin je bil mesec dni v priporu, dogodek pa je predramil ne samo ministrstvo in inšpektorat, ampak tudi številne lastnike podobnih mini živalskih vrtov, ki jih je po Srbiji kar nekaj.
Pojavljala so se tudi vprašanja, ali morebiti medved ni imel stekline, s čemer so iskali razlog za njegov napad, nakar se je izkazalo, da to ni bil razlog, pa vendar nobenemu očitno ni jasno, da zaradi pomanjkanja gibanja in prostora tudi živali utrpijo globoke frustracije, ki vodijo v agresijo. Konec koncev živali imajo svoj cikel in ritem v skladu s svojim naravnim okolje. Ko so tega medveda kot mladiča hranili, bi ga po določenem času bilo potrebno vrniti v njegovo naravno okolje, ne pa ga zapreti v kletko in ga uporabiti za atrakcijo. In to osnovno razumevanje bi pričakovala vsaj od Društva za zaščito živali iz Đurđeva, ki je v sodelovanju s švicarsko ambasado v Beogradu, tej restavraciji podarilo železno medvedjo kletko, po incidentu iz leta 2004, ko je neki 14 letni deček, preskočil leseno varnostno ograjo, se približal medvedu in skozi rešetke brcal medveda, ki je takrat spal. Danes ta restavracija in etno vasica razen konjičkov drugih živali nimajo in kruto, da se je morala zgoditi tragedija za premik zavesti in dojemanja, da divje živali sodijo v svoj prostor in jim pripada svoboda, do katere imajo konec koncev tudi vso pravico.
(English)
Years ago I ran into the scene in a small village in Serbia, where a bear was the mascot of the homemade zoo. The image of that bear in a small cage haunted me, so I wondered what happened to that bear and if there is any chance of changing that situation. Instead, I found out a bear named Misha was in 2011 involved in a tragic event while attacked one person and therefore was shot to death.
In Serbia close to the city of Zrenjanin is a small touristic village called Tiganjica within which is the restaurant named Trofej (that in translation would mean trophy) and that restaurant had a mini homemade zoo, where Misha the bear has been the hallmark of this tourist attraction and one of the main reasons why families visit this restaurant. Next to the bear were able to see deer, hares, various birds, and other animals, but none drew as much attention as the bear, who during the war in Bosnia lost his mother and the soldiers brought him here.
When I saw this place, it brought to me sadness to see animals in that small space, especially big strong bear, that needs large space and a lot of movement and of course freedom. For abduction and exploitation of animals are commonly used excuses as that the animal will not be able to survive in the wilderness anymore, and that is just easy excuses to justify its means, that to me seems not only without empathy but also ruthless. That was also the case of a polar bear that last year more than half of million people sign the petition to save 3 years old bear named Pizza. The bear was captured in a Chinese shopping center as an attraction for people to take selfies with a bear, that lived in a small place with no fresh air or natural sunlight.
The bear was in such an agony that it started hitting his head against the wall. When more than half of million people signed a petition and demanded from the so-called Grandview aquarium (if this place could ever be named aquarium) to withdrawn the bear from the shopping center and after some time bear was moved to the zoo. Well, it is so hard to empathize try to imagine yourself in a small closed cell, preferably without natural light and without any possibility of movement. I think that everyone would suffer a nervous breakdown or outburst of aggression. And this happens to animals in captivity. So when the headlines are filled with titles as »Orca attack coach; or how lions attacked their trainer in the circus or how elephants went crazy«, people tend to think as animals are bloodthirsty beasts wanting to harm humans, but no one asks what is actually the role of humans in that kind of situations.
And that was the story fo the bear Misha, live mascot and attraction to bring visitors to the restaurant. At the beginning of September 2011, at 13 am Misha attacked a 59 old lady, Veronika Sarčev, who feed the bear and other animals. How the attack in the cage actually happened nobody seems to know. Witnesses say that the bear grabbed her head and strike hard at her. Soon she died. When the police arrived it was too late for her and on the suggestion of people, the police officer shoot the bear. The owner of the restaurant and mini zoo Zoran Ostojin was taken to the custody and were charged for safety reasons and was in jail for one month, although he didn’t want to take responsibility for that tragic event, claiming not to know, why she was in a bear cage. He said that she was not employed by him, although it was a known fact that she was paid 100 euros per month for cleaning and feeding the animals. That tragic event has awakened not only ministry and inspectorate but also many owners of a homemade zoo in Serbia.
When looking for a reason for this attack rabies were disclaimed, and jet people find it strange to think that wild animals do not belong in small places, where they can suffer from deep frustration that leads to aggression. After all, animals have their own cycle and rhythm of living in accordance with their natural environment. So, when they nurtured this bear when he was a baby after time it would be necessary to return him to his natural environment, rather than have him captured in a cage and used him as an attraction. And this basic understanding I would expect at least from the Society for the animal protection from Đurđevo, when they in collaboration with the Swiss embassy from Belgrade donated this restaurant iron bear cage, after the incident that happened in 2004 when a 14-year-old boy jumped the wooden security fence and through the bars start to kick the bear who was sleeping at that time. Today, this restaurant and touristic village except for horses they do not keep any other animals or wild animals, and is harsh to see that the tragedy had to accrue so that people could learn, those wild animals belong to the wilderness and they deserve the freedom to which they are entitled to.
Pizza Bear: Story in INDEPENDENT
M I Š A
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Almira Ćatović 