People run away as Kurdish animal rights activists release a bear into the wild after rescuing bears from captivity in people's homes in Duhok, Iraq. Ari Jalal/Reuters
Posted on 02/16/2021 11:54:45 AM PST by SJackson
People run away as Kurdish animal rights activists release a bear into the wild after rescuing bears from captivity in people's homes in Duhok, Iraq. Ari Jalal/Reuters
Six Syrian brown bears ran amok in the mountains of Duhok, Iraq, after Kurdish animal rights activists released them from their cages, Reuters reported.
The bears were released into the wild as part of a special ceremony organized by the Kurdish American Cooperation Organization, a local charity that has set rescued bears free on two other occasions, the news agency said.
Moments after the activists unlocked the cages, the ceremony descended into chaos. The unleashed bears panicked and lunged at onlookers, according to The Sun.
People were then forced to run for their lives, News.com.au reported.
The bears, some of whom had been rescued from captivity in people's homes, eventually left the spectators alone.
They walked off into the snowy mountains, near the Iraqi-Turkish border, The Sun reported. It is not clear yet whether anyone was injured, the paper added.
The bears were released as part of a scheme to save them from extinction, according to multiple reports.
Syrian brown bears are considered to be endangered subspecies, according to Bear Conservation. They are at risk of extinction in Iraq because of illegal hunting and captivity.
Meh. The bears were just gamboling about.
😂
Those were just little bears......Kinda like Teddys.......
By the time we got into Tulsa Town
We had eighty-five trucks in all
But they’s a roadblock up on the cloverleaf
And them bears was wall-to-wall
Yeah, them smokies is thick as bugs on a bumper
They even had a bear in the air!
I says, “Callin’ all trucks, this here’s the Duck
“We about to go a-huntin’ bear”
Jihadi Bears!
😄
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