A bear that spent many difficult years touring as part of a circus has become an overnight internet sensation after a video of her waking up for the day went viral.
Chada, a 25-year-old Tien Shan (Himalayan) brown bear, lives at the White Rock Bear Sanctuary near Kyiv in Ukraine. Himalayan brown bears are classified as "critically endangered" on the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) red list. They have a typical life span of between 20 and 30 years and are mostly found around Central Asia, in an area ranging between northern Afghanistan and China. Males are brown but females like Chad are usually sandy or reddish-brown in color.
Dr. Maryna Shkvyria, Chief Zoologist and project coordinator of the Save Wild organization, which runs the bear shelter, told Newsweek there are "only 300 [Himalayan brown bears] left in the wild" and, if truth be told, Chada is lucky to be alive.
Born into captivity on Christmas Day, 1998 she spent much of her early life touring as part of the Ukrainian national circus.
Eventually, she was left to live out her days in a small rusty cage in an industrial suburb of Kyiv. Chada spent seven years there before activists stepped in to help.
She finally arrived at White Rock in July 2019 but years of mistreatment in the circus have taken their toll; Chada has almost no teeth and is virtually blind.
Despite these difficulties, it would seem Chada has not lost her ability to command an audience. Earlier this month, Shkvyria filmed her waking up one morning and uploaded the clip to the White Rock Bear Sanctuary's social media channels, where it quickly began garnering attention.
In the video, a groggy-looking Chada can be seen gradually getting up from her den before taking a look at the world around her, as if mentally preparing herself for the day ahead.
An accompanying caption reads: "This is me starting the work #week. Good morning. We're all like Chada on Monday."
"I filmed it when we prepared food for her and she was so sweet, Shkvyria told Newsweek. "She can't see very well so rest is her favorite activity although she also likes to communicate with a brown male bear through the fence. She likes him."
Chada's perceived hesitancy to start the week proved to be very relatable for viewers on TikTok, where Shkvyria's video has been watched nearly 23 million times.
"This bear looks how I feel," one viewer wrote.
Another said: "Me on a Monday morning."
One fan said it was like "When you got in at 4 a.m. and have to start work at 8," while another said it was more like an "unemployed friend at 3:40 p.m. on Thursday."
Another commented: "When you set your alarm for a 30 min nap but you wake up 3 days late."
Despite her hesitancy to start the day, Chada enjoys a pretty relaxing schedule.
"She gets food like salmon, apples, goat cheese, carrots, strawberries, nuts several times per day," Shkvyria said. "Caretakers spread it on the territory of her enclosure to stimulate natural behavior."
"She likes to have a bath in her small swimming pool. She is almost blind so she can't go to the big pool. Then she has a rest in her den or in a box. She loves to play with sticks or eat grass."
In 2022, the bears at the sanctuary had to be temporarily evacuated from their homes because of the ongoing war in Ukraine but Chada remained in good spirits.
"She is brave and strong despite her age," Shkyvria said.
About the writer
Jack Beresford is a Newsweek Senior Internet Culture & Trends Reporter, based in London, UK. His focus is reporting on ... Read more