20 years of caring for Kyriakos

Kyriakos standing tall (c) Arcturos

Weighing in at a colossal 230kg, mighty Kyriakos towers over all the other brown bears at Arcturos Bear Sanctuary, in Greece – including his brother Manolis. It’s hard to believe he’s the same animal as the vulnerable, four-month-old rescued with his twin in Kastoria, northern Greece, in 2004 when their mother was killed. 

Kyriakos as a cub with twin Manolis (c) Arcuros

Fortunately, the brothers were taken in by a couple of kindly shepherds, who for three months did their best to care for the cubs, before handing them to the experienced team at Arcturos. However, this close contact meant the bears were too used to human presence to survive safely in the wild, and since then the pair has always relied on human care. 

At Arcturos, in spacious neighbouring beech enclosures, Kyriakos and his brother enjoy the next best thing to the wild. Depending on the season, they explore the forest, wallow in their swimming holes, dig for roots and insects, or seek out berries and grass shoots. The twins are happier living in their own space, but still enjoy each other’s company, foraging or dozing close to one another on either side of the fence. 

Kyriakos in the snow (c) Arcturos

This part of Greece can be surprisingly cold during winter months, with temperatures dropping below zero. Each year before Christmas, Kyriakos can be busy preparing for his long sleep, collecting leaves, straw and branches for his winter den.

Arcturos makes sure he and all the rescued bears are given larger amounts of food – nuts, fish, eggs and fruit – to help them gain weight before their two-month sleep. But, on the first day of snow last year, Kyriakos was almost cub-like – out playing, rolling around and diving in his half-frozen lake.  

It’s estimated Europe has around 17,000 wild brown bears (excluding Russia), with perhaps 500 of these in Greece. Many of the 20 rescued bears Arcturos cares for are former dancing bears – happily this cruel entertainment ended in Greece in 1997 and the country was actually the first in Europe to ban the use of wild animals in circuses.  

The sanctuary also rescues injured and orphaned bears, returning them to the wild whenever possible. These include Martha, discovered without her mother in a village earlier this year. “Martha has now entered our rehabilitation programme and we hope will be released back into the wild, next spring,” explains Melina Avgerinou, Animal Rescue & Care Manager at Arcturos. We will report back!