After years in cramped cages, two brown bears are adjusting to their new life following a remarkable rescue mission that spanned multiple countries, was disrupted by two major conflicts and involved more than 100 people. For Bu and Tyapa, the five-year rescue journey from the Republic of Dagestan in Russia to the Irish countryside was anything but straightforward. One bear had spent their life forced to perform in a circus, while the other was confined to a cage so small they could not stand upright.
Today, the bears are now adjusting to a totally different world among the trees and grass at Wild Ireland, a sanctuary for rescued animals in County Donegal. Wild Ireland founder Killian McLaughlin first learned about Bu and Tyapa in 2021 and committed to bringing them to safety in Donegal. The sanctuary, located in Burnfoot, opened in October 2019 and provides a safe space for animals, including brown bears, monkeys, wolves, and lynx.
McLaughlin said the two bears were in extremely poor health when they were first rescued. Former circus bear Bu had spent years confined to a small indoor cage after being forced to perform. McLaughlin said Tyapa had lived in a cage measuring just 2.5m by 2.5m by 2m, which was too low for him to stand upright and had no roof, which left him exposed to the harsh winters and blistering summer heat.
The bear had no water dish and relied on a hose for drinking water. McLaughlin said he was being raised to be killed for an eventual taxidermy display. When the bears were rescued, both were severely malnourished and showed signs of psychological trauma.
Blood tests also revealed serious kidney problems associated with prolonged dehydration. Russia's invasion of Ukraine in February 2022 made the original transport route through Ukraine impossible, said McLaughlin. An alternative route through the Middle East was then explored, but plans were disrupted again in February 2026 when the escalating conflict involving Iran led to airspace closures and flight disruptions across the region.
More than 100 people were involved in the rescue operation, including volunteers, lawyers, veterinarians, animal transport specialists, cargo teams and officials in Russia, the United Arab Emirates and Ireland. In late October 2025, Dima and Yana Kim, who work at Tiger House, a sanctuary near St Petersburg that cares for former circus tigers, embarked on a 36-hour drive to Dagestan to rescue the bears. Bu and Tyapa had to be cut out of their rusting steel cages, sedated and placed in secure transport crates for the journey back to Tiger House, where they received veterinary treatment and underwent quarantine.
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