Bear cured of alcoholism

About a third of its 7-year life, bear Potapych was boozing. As a bear-cub, he was bought by a successful businessman who wanted to impress his friends with his haughty manners, and they kept the bear in his villa. Though, later, the businessman was imprisoned, and the bear stood in the villa with his caretaker, uncle Misha. Uncle Misha loved the bear in his own way, feeding him and giving him drink. They even drank together: uncle Misha was a drunkard, so Potapych took to alcohol too. Potapych even got accustomed to drinking from a glass. In the evening, the bear was usually drunk and sometimes he went out of the fence and followed passing people. In the morning, he had a hang-over and uncle Misha gave him something drink again. Local people preferred to avoid meeting the bear. Afterwards, the bear even stared to attack people. Therefore, workers of zoo of the State Cinema Fund, feeling sorry for the bear, decided to take Potapych. Uncle Misha made a farewell banquet for his booze companion; therefore, the bear was completely drunk when the workers of zoo arrived to take him. The next morning, Potapych had a hang-over and was depressed. He did not want to eat. The workers of the zoo-base were afraid the bear would die. All the more, it was very famished. So zoo workers decided to gradually reduce the doze of alcohol in the bear’s daily ration to break the animal of the bad habit. At first, the bear was very weak, though later he cheered up. After a month, the bear was cured of his alcoholism and turned to milk. The bear put on weight and became similar to its brethren, though it is still behind normal bears in terms of weight and size. Zoo worker Tatyana Yarkina, looking after Potapych, says that the bear's psyche is disturbed, so she needs to keep paying constant attention to the animal. However, she is optimistic about its future and considers Potapych to be a good bear.

Komsomolskaya Pravda photograph