Arosa bear park gets Ukrainian circus bear 

Jambolina, a former Ukrainian circus bear, has become the new bear at Arosa bear sanctuary in southeast Switzerland. 

She reached her new home in the Graubünden mountains on Friday after a journey of more than 2,400 kilometres, the bear park announced.  

The journey took four days from Ukraine through Poland, Germany, Austria and Switzerland. A team from the animal protection organisation Quatre Pattes organised the unusual transport of 11-year-old Jambolina, it said. 

In Ukraine, the bear was used in a circus. Due to pandemic-related restrictions, many public events were cancelled and Jambolina had been confined for months in a cage too small for her. But now she will be able to let off steam in a large enclosure in Arosa.  

She will also be able to meet the other two bears there – Amelia and Meimo. Napa, the first bear to come to Arosa died about a month ago, at age 14. 

The Arosa bear park officially opened in 2018 and is the first bear park in Switzerland designed specifically to protect the animals. It provides a sanctuary for bears who have been ill-treated or kept in captivity.