It has probably been installed there as an attraction for visitors to nearby shop and a restaurant. It seemed that the main attraction was to feed it with beer. It could open the bottle and from it in a very human way. The fact that the brown bear is an endangered species strictly protected in Georgia did not seem to having gained understanding all over Georgia.
When Lisbeth and I were visiting Eagle Gorge; Dima, while waiting for us, made some ethnographic studies in the nearby village and found out that it formerly had been inhabited mainly by Russian, who now had left for Russia, so the town was more or less deserted. He also socialised with one of the remaining Russians, who was heavily alcoholised (2 bottles of vodka pr. day). Dima's comment regarding the bear was that it was similarly alcoholised as the Russian.
Since the early 1990s the illegal capturing and keeping of brown bears in cages or as pets is becoming a common occurrence in Georgia. Today one can see captive bears at roadside restaurants and petrol stations. In most cases the initial motivation for keeping a bear is to attract more visitors. In addition, bears are also kept as pets in private homes. Most often the bears are not receiving proper care or food. http://www.alertis.nl/index.php?id=142
Most of the captive bears have to live under harsh conditions that are truly deplorable and inhumane. Most are locked up in cages that fail to meet even minimum requirements. The cages are typically small, dirty and lack any shade at all. Most often the bears are not receiving proper care or food.
Their diet is often extremely poor and comprises restaurant leftovers, mostly consisting of bread products and cooked food scraps. Some of them have to live under a constant noise of busy roads and the threat of being teased by crowds. Most owners of the bears lack any knowledge as to how to take care of their captive bears. Owners do not observe even the most basic safety rules and visitors are often exposed to potential threats. http://www.alertis.nl/index.php?id=142
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