A Dog and Cat Sanctuary in Dagestan Ended Up With 2 Bears. Rehoming Them Took 5 Years

Two brown bears once kept in cramped cages in Dagestan, Russia, are now living in a forest in County Donegal. Bu, a former circus bear, and Tyapa, who came from a petting zoo, were moved to Wild Ireland, a sanctuary in Burnfoot on the Inishowen Peninsula, after a rescue that took about five years.¹

The effort was led by sanctuary founder Killian McLaughlin. According to the sanctuary’s account, it involved more than 100 people in several countries and a journey of 13,500 km that crossed two war zones.¹² The bears are physically recovering, though some parts of the outdoors still frighten them.

Where the bears came from

McLaughlin first heard about the bears in 2021. They were being kept at Right to Life, a small dog and cat sanctuary in the Republic of Dagestan that could not care for bears in the long term. Its owner reached him through Bears in Mind, a charity based in the Netherlands.¹

Rescuers said Tyapa was being raised at the petting zoo to be killed for taxidermy. Tyapa’s cage measured about 2.5 m by 2.5 m by 2 m, too low to stand up in, with no roof and no water dish, only a hose. Bu spent years in a small indoor cage with limited access to water.¹

“I couldn’t forget about Bu and Tyapa, even when it seemed impossible,” McLaughlin said, as reported by Donegal Daily.¹

A road trip that kept getting rerouted

The first plan was simple enough: drive the bears through Ukraine to Donegal. Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in February 2022 ended that idea, and war, sanctions and transport restrictions delayed the rescue again and again.¹²

McLaughlin hired a Moscow lawyer to work out how to move the bears legally under sanctions. In January 2025, Dima and Yana Kim of Tiger House, a sanctuary near St Petersburg for former circus tigers, agreed to help. Yana is a veterinarian.¹

In late October 2025 the Kims drove 36 hours to Dagestan. The bears were cut out of rusting steel cages, sedated, crated and driven another 36 hours back to Tiger House for quarantine and vet care.

Tests there found serious kidney problems linked to long-term dehydration. Both bears were severely malnourished and showed signs of psychological trauma.¹

Then the air route got complicated too. Flights across the Middle East were disrupted when the conflict involving Iran escalated in February 2026. In June 2026, animal transport firm Intradco Global offered its services free, and Etihad Cargo agreed to fly the bears at a greatly reduced price. Import paperwork was issued that same month.¹

The bears flew from Moscow to Dublin by way of Abu Dhabi and landed in early August 2026.¹⁴ After all that, the last leg to Donegal was in a cattle lorry.¹

Settling in, slowly

Once a vet cleared them from quarantine on 7 September 2026, Bu and Tyapa were let into their forest habitat. In their first two months, both gained weight and grew shiny coats, and follow-up blood tests showed their kidney function had returned to normal.¹

Their recovery is still in progress. Both bears remain frightened of open spaces, trees moving in the wind and deep water, and they often retreat to smaller houses. The sanctuary says it will let them adjust at their own pace.¹

“We ask visitors to bear with them while they settle,” McLaughlin said, as reported by Donegal Daily.¹

Visitors may be able to spot them during the October mid-term break, though sightings are not guaranteed.¹

Brown bears went extinct in Ireland more than 2,000 years ago. With Bu and Tyapa, Wild Ireland now has four, which RTÉ describes as the only living brown bears in the country.² By that count, Ireland’s entire brown bear population lives at a single address in Inishowen.

Moondance Productions has filmed the rescue from the beginning, and a documentary is expected in 2027.¹³

“After five years, traversing four countries, and two war zones, Bu and Tyapa are finally home. The rest of their lives now belong to them,” McLaughlin said.¹