A veterinarian doctor from an Austrian animal protection foundation checks whether a drug has taken effect on Mariana, a brown bear, before it is tested for illneses in a newly-set up bear reservation in southern Bulgaria near the village of Belitsa (160 km from Sofia) on November 15, 2000. The reservation is part of project sponsored by [French actress Brigitte Bardot] intended to save bears from being forced to dance and perform tricks for people on city streets. The project buys the bears from their owners and sets them free in their natural habitat in the reservation.