Rolling around in their backs, climbing trees, swimming and roaming in the woods, these bears have a lot to celebrate.
The 60 furry residents of the Libearty Bear Sanctuary near the city of Brasov in central Romania have all been rescued from a lifetime of suffering in small cages or run-down zoos.
The bears were all caught from the wild as cubs and had lived all their lives in cages with a poor diet and little or no veterinary care.
Bear hug: the animals have learnt to enjoy life again since being rescued from living in cages or under-resourced zoos
Shall we dance? These two bears play-fight at the Libearty Bear Sanctuary in Romania
What have I done? This bear looks as though he has realised he has done something daft
Bear-belly: this grizzly relaxes in the woodland at the sanctuary in central Romania
Keeping captive bears was illegal in Romania but until work began on the bear sanctuary in 2006 the authorities were unable to confiscate bears because they didn’t have the facilities to care for them.
The remarkable photographs are all taken by Welsh wildlife advisor, Victor Watkins, 58, who has dedicated the last four years of his life to documenting the creation of the sanctuary. He captured the shots of the adult males from 20m away, while the females relaxed and climbed trees nearby.
The huge animals, some weighing 250 kg and reaching two metres tall, spent years in cramped cages before being rescued by the sanctuary.
Fuzzy-headed: the bears can roam through the 69-hectare site. Some lived in cages as attractions while others were in poor conditions in overcrowded zoos before their rescue
Yoo-hoo! Though the bears can weigh up to 250kg they are adept at climbing trees
Let’s shake on it: since their rescue the bears have learnt to trust and to play
Bare facts: the animals suffered from poor health in substandard captivity and those that were kept illegally were often not confiscated because the authorities had nowhere better to place them
‘And I said to him …’: two bears share a playful moment at the Romanian sanctuary
Last year Mr Watkins published his book, Bear Sanctuary, which is an account of the animals’ rescue and the creation of the forest sanctuary which provides a safe, natural environment for the bears to live out their remaining years. The sanctuary is the largest bear sanctuary in Europe.
It describes how they learned to live like bears again in the 69-hectare site that offers them trees to climb, rivers to swim in, large forested areas to roam and even natural dens to hibernate in.
The Romanian-run sanctuary was created because of the need to rescue over 50 bears found suffering in small and rusted cages around the country where they had been used as pets or as attractions for restaurants and petrol stations.