Mark, caged at a restaurant in Albania, has been rescued by an international animal welfare organisation and taken to a sanctuary in Austria. Photo: AP
Meet Mark the Albanian brown bear, kept in a cage for 20 years, now in an Austrian sanctuary
- Mark was brought to Bear’s Table restaurant in Tirana as a cub 20 years ago with his sister Liza, who died in 2020; both of them were there for diners to watch
- Fed a poor diet and unable to hibernate, Mark is overweight, ill, stressed; Four Paws welfare group says he’s the 34th wild animal they’ve helped to move out of country
Top picks
![The attack on Wednesday happened near the Marienbruecke, a bridge over a gorge that offers a famous view of Neuschwanstein castle. Photo: Reuters](data:image/svg+xml,<svg xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg" width="76" height="47"><rect fill-opacity="0"/></svg>)
Mark, caged at a restaurant in Albania, has been rescued by an international animal welfare organisation and taken to a sanctuary in Austria. Photo: AP
After more than two decades in a cage at an Albanian restaurant for diners to look at, brown bear Mark is heading towards a better life in an Austrian sanctuary.
Until now, he has spent his life entertaining visitors to the Sofra e Ariut (Bear’s Table) restaurant in Tirana along with his sister Liza.
But on Wednesday, under heavy anaesthetic, he started his journey to the Aberbasch shelter in northern Austria, thanks to the Four Paws animal welfare group.
Molten salt reactors can be built in areas far from large bodies of water, such as the Gobi Desert. Photo: TNS
China gives green light to nuclear reactor that burns thorium – a fuel that could power the country for 20,000 years
- It has several advantages over uranium reactors, including safety, reduced waste, better fuel efficiency and suitability for use in arid landlocked areas
- The tech is expected to strengthen China’s energy security as the nation has abundant thorium reserves
Top picks
Molten salt reactors can be built in areas far from large bodies of water, such as the Gobi Desert. Photo: TNS
![](data:image/svg+xml,<svg xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg" width="122" height="122"><rect fill-opacity="0"/></svg>)
Read more in the SCMP App
![](data:image/svg+xml,<svg xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg" width="240" height="80"><rect fill-opacity="0"/></svg>)
![](data:image/svg+xml,<svg xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg" width="324" height="96"><rect fill-opacity="0"/></svg>)
Read more in the SCMP App
