
A brown bear stares longingly at a young family enjoying lunch at a riverside restaurant from behind the welded iron bars of its low cage.

The cage covers a small bit of rock and allows its inhabitants a dip in the water, but the otherwise barren enclosure forces the bears to live at the mercy of bored diners, hoping that they throw them the scraps left over at the end of the meal.

These bears, and many more like them, live their entire lives inside small cages for the entertainment of diners, shoppers and bored commuters across Armenia.

Pleading: A brown bear climbs on its enclosure across the river from a restaurant, staring longingly at the diners

Begging for scraps: A bear reaches out with its paw through the iron bars to get its claws on a piece of food left by a diner

Oblivious: Seated with a view of the bear enclosure is a young family enjoying lunch at the restaurant in Armenia

The former Soviet country has long had a tradition of capturing and keeping bears, and despite progress in many other areas, animal rights are behind the times in Armenia.

It is not uncommon to spot a bear in a tiny cage at a restaurant, bus depot, shopping centre or a factory. They are often caught as cubs and spend their lives in captivity in order to attract tourists or simply entertain its owners.

However, British charity International Animal Rescue (IAR) is launching The Great Bear Rescue, aimed at freeing dozens of caged bears in Armenia.

Heartbreaking: Keeping bears in cages is not an uncommon way of attracting tourists or entertaining shoppers in Armenia

Longing for freedom: The bears at the restaurant are kept in a barren enclosure and forced to beg for food

Feed me: Many of the bears have lived their entire lives inside cages or small enclosures for the entertainment of diners, shoppers and bored commuters across Armenia

Efforts: British charity International Animal Rescue has launched a rescue mission to free the caged bears of Armenia

IAR Chief Executive Alan Knight said: 'I have seen the conditions these bears are living in for myself and they are nothing short of appalling.

'Some have been living for years in small, barren cages, surviving only on scraps and filthy, stagnant water and standing on stinking mounds of their own faeces.

'Many of them relieve their boredom and frustration by pacing endlessly to and fro, banging their heads against the walls or climbing up the bars, searching frantically for an escape route.

Caged: Another bear at a separate location in Armenia is sticking its head out of its cage

Mission: The International Animal Rescue hope to raise enough money to be able to rescue 80 bears

Working on it: The images were taken during a recent visit to Armenia by IAR Chief Executive Alan Knight who was appalled at what he saw

Cruel: Some of the bears are kept in small, barren cages, surviving only on scraps and filthy, stagnant water and standing on stinking mounds of their own faece

'They have been robbed of their dignity and their freedom, all for people's idle entertainment. It sickens me.'

The Sussex-based charity has won the support of the Armenian government and aims to rescue 80 bears from horrendous conditions, at a cost of 4,000 euros (£3,585) per animal. This will cover transport, care and rehabilitation.

IAR hope to be able to release a number of the bears back into the wild, but as some have spent their whole lives in captivity, the charity is also building a 75,000 euro (£67,300) sanctuary for those animals who would not survive in the forests.