Owner of private zoo to stand trial for catching wild bear cub and keeping it in captivity

RIGA - The Latgale District Court is due to hear a criminal case against Aleksandrs Kalacovs, the owner of the private zoo Raptors Park in Demene, Augsdaugava municipality, who will be tried for catching a wild bear cub and keeping it in his zoo, LETA learned.

Representatives of the prosecutor's office told LETA, without naming the accused, that a man last spring deliberately caught an approximately two-months old brown bear cub and brought the animal to his private zoo for keeping in captivity.

On April 17, police seized the animal from the zoo.

According to current legislation, the brown bear Ursus arctos is included in the list of specially protected species. The bear of this species is a representative of the European Union (EU) priority species found in Latvia and is not included in the list of game animals.

According to the Animal Protection Law, the removal of such a cub from the wild can be interpreted as the removal of an individual animal from the brown bear population.

The removal of a bear can be equated with killing an individual of the species because the bear cub will no longer be able to return to the wild and will not be able to perform its functions in the wild bear population, for example, to reproduce, which is one of the basic functions for maintaining the population, the prosecutor's office said.

According to the prosecution, with his actions, the zoo owner has caused significant harm to the Latvian brown bear population equivalent to EUR 29,600 in monetary terms.

The maximum punishment for such a criminal offense is imprisonment for up to five years, but the man can also be punished with temporary imprisonment, probationary supervision, community service or a fine.

According to LETA's sources, the bear cub was initially taken to Riga Zoo and later sent to a zoo in Greece. Representatives of Riga Zoo told LETA they cannot provide any information about the bear because of the ongoing criminal proceedings.