"Please Look After This Bear" Celebrating World Bear Day and The Gift of Freedom for Retta, from Broken to Beautiful

Friday 20 March, 2026

World Bear Day (23rd March) is the perfect time to reflect on International Animal Rescue’s (IAR) work with bears, and one extraordinary tale of hope stands out. Back in 2024, the IAR team met Margaretta (Retta), an ex-circus bear who spent years confined in a tiny cage, serving as a sad spectacle for visitors at a tourist resort in Armenia. The tale was tragic and, as the photo clearly shows, heartbreaking for poor Retta.

But today, Retta's life has been transformed.