Four elderly bears have taken their "first steps of freedom" after spending most of their lives in captivity in a roadside zoo in Pennsylvania, US.
Peta reported that the bears were kept in cages for 20 years after the Big Bear Farm Zoo was shut down in 1995.
Aged between 22 and 32 years old, they were said to have "paced and swayed" when they were found, which was "a sign they were trying to cope with physical and mental deprivation".
One of the bears was reported to be suffering from "painful arthritis". An official told the New York Daily News that all had been forced to perform tricks, such as riding bicycles, when they were cubs.
The bears first arrived at their new home last month. Pat Craig, who founded the sanctuary, told the New York Daily News that the bears have been "basically reborn in a very mental and physical sense… they were lost and almost depleted souls".
"They had no idea life was going to get better," she added.
Craig says the bears are now doing well: "We love to see that spark come back to these animals… Just in the first hour, they were already in the water bobbing for apples."
