MOUNT OZREN, Bosnia-Herzegovina (AP) — Masa the bear lumbers across a grassy enclosure on Bosnia's Mount Ozren before rising onto her hind legs and wrapping her front paws around her friend, Petar Tubic.
The pair's unlikely friendship began in 2019 when Tubic found Masa abandoned as a cub in a forest and took her home. They have been inseparable ever since.
“The stuffed bear is the most popular toy in the world,” Tubic said. “Now imagine having a real
bear by your side who is irresistible, but also a huge responsibility."
Masa weighed just 2 kilograms (4.4 pounds) when Tubic found her. Alone in the mountains, without her mother, she likely would not have survived. Tubic cared for the cub, feeding her milk and fruit until she regained her strength.
Finding Masa sent Tubic's life in an unexpected direction, making him care for an animal he knew almost nothing about, he recalled. He has since adopted another female bear, named Ljubica, who also lives on the property.
Masa now weighs about 150 kilograms (330 pounds) and is expected to grow heavier in the coming winter months. Seemingly unaware of her size, she still routinely tries to sit on Tubic’s lap as she did when she was a cub.
Tubic said playtime with bears often comes with a few bruises or a torn hoodie despite their gentle intentions.
“That’s a fact,” he said. “A push of her paw could knock someone out."
Thanks to Masa and Ljubica, Tubic's home on Mount Ozren has become a local tourist attraction where visitors come to see the bears and other rescued animals. Tubic also cares for two wolves, deer, raccoons and scores of other animals.
“People often say that they are my pets, but I would turn that around and say I am more of a pet to them,” he said. “They shaped my life, and I shaped theirs in some way.”
Tubic lives with his wife Milica Tubic and 9-year-old daughter, Eva. An electrician by profession, Tubic also enjoys paragliding, caving and hiking. But the family's main joy is spending time with animals.
While he has considered returning the bears to the wild, Tubic is worried that they have grown too accustomed to people and that releasing them would put them in danger.
So, at least for now, Masa and Ljubica remain with Tubic and his family. He said that his fascination with bears continues to this day, and offers a connection to what he described as the “real world" at a time when people spend much of their lives behind screens.
“They (bears) opened a door to me to a world I didn’t know existed, or maybe to the one I had never paid much attention to," he said, noting that the learning process worked both ways.
“You could say we’ve been educated together.”
