Nicknamed Prosha, the bear, a young male, was captured soon after being spotted and taken to Tallinn Zoo, before being "repatriated" to Russia where he was released into the wild in December, during relatively mild weather.

"The rehabilitation center has received no other information," Tallinn Zoo's director Tiit Maran told daily Postimees' South Estonia edition. "So, it seems that everything went well."

Maran had made follow up inquiries with zoologists involved in returning Prosha to Russia as to whether they knew anything about his whereabouts.

Prosha, escaped a center for orphaned bears in the Tver Oblast, about 500 km east of the Russian-Estonian border, in early summer 2019, along with his sister, nicknamed Polya. The pair made their way across the national boundary, which is not fully fenced off in the southeastern part of Estonia, and had raided garbage bins and caused other issues once they arrived in Valga County, which borders with Latvia.

Maran had made follow up inquiries with zoologists involved in returning Prosha to Russia as to whether they knew anything about his whereabouts in the 416,900-square-kilometer, heavily-forested district, which has population density of a little over two people per square kilometer.

Prosha, escaped a center for orphaned bears in the Tver Oblast, about 500 km east of the Russian-Estonian border, in early summer 2019, along with his sister, nicknamed Polya. The pair made their way across the national boundary, which is not fully fenced off in the southeastern part of Estonia, and had raided garbage bins and caused other issues once they arrived in Valga County, which borders with Latvia.

Whether Polya is still living in the vicinity or what became of her is not known.

Curious, unusually bold or hungry bears showing up in or new human settlements in Estonia is not an uncommon occurence.

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