Balkasar Bear Sanctuary, established in 2010 by Fakhar Abbas of WSPA (now known as World Animal Protection), is an animal sanctuary located in Balkassar, Chakwal District, Punjab, Pakistan. The sanctuary provides a retirement and rehabilitation home, and veterinary care for rescued bears from bear-baiting events. It houses the endangered species of Asian black bears and Himalayan brown bears. Balkasar Bear Sanctuary also has ornithology and herpetalogy research stations.HistoryIn 2000, Kund Bear Sanctuary was established by the World Society for the Protection of Animals (WSPA) through the efforts of Fakhar Abbas, president of WSPA member society Bioresource Research Centre (BRC). The park was a retirement and rehabilitation home to the rescued bears, who could never adapt to life in the wild, because as tame bears they are without teeth. "When our monitoring work officially started in 2003 there were around 300 bears used for baiting. Now, by our recent estimates, there are only around 70 left," said Abbas. With construction planning beginning in 2009, it was in 2010 when the first of many enclosures for a new planned sanctuary in Balkasar was finished. It aimed to provide a more "natural" environment for bears to live.