TIRANA Lying in his cage near a busy Tirana road, Mark the brown bear nibbles listlessly at a pile of bread and lettuce, just beyond the bars that have kept him captive for more than 20 years, a cat shares in his frugal meal.
Mark is one of the last of dozens of bears held in such conditions outside Albanian restaurants as a means of attracting and amusing guests, according to the charity that is about to rescue him.
In 2016, there were more than 30 bears kept in small cages, said Magdalena Scherk Trettin, from Four Paws International, before administering a powerful sedative to Mark in preparation for the long journey to the Austrian sanctuary that the Vienna-based global organisation runs.
When Mark arrived at the Sofra e Ariut Bear's Table restaurant he was just a cub, said Scherk Trettin, who said he had been born in 1998.
The restaurant changed hands a year ago, and its new owners decided to hand him over and dismantle his cage, to the displeasure of at least one of their employees.
I am not feeling good today because they are taking the bear away. Misir Maxhuku, who has cared for Mark for the past four years, said that they used to live with him.
Four Paws says inadequate legislation means bears and other wild animals are at risk of being abused as pets or tourist attractions in Albania, where 11 other bears have been rescued.
It has saved 16 in neighbouring Kosovo, where it operates a second sanctuary.
The destruction of their habitat and illegal hunting has resulted in a number of bears in the wild across the Western Balkans, according to experts.