Two bears saved from appalling conditions in Bulgaria have arrived at their new home at a Kent wildlife park.

Milcho and Gosho are European brown bears which were bred to be hunted by the former Communist Party elite and then by wealthy oligarchs.

When Bulgaria joined the European Union they were forced to stop the barbaric blood sport, but it left them abandoned in a desolate concrete pit, with local people doing their best to help feed them with dried porridge.

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Now, following a £50,000 fundraising campaign launched in July, they have been rescued and brought to Wildwood near Herne Common on Wednesday night.

Wildwood’s chief executive Peter Smith ventured out to see the pair, which were driven 1,500 miles back across Europe.

He said: “We got out there just in time as the snows were beginning to fall, otherwise we would have had to wait until the spring.

“They were kept in the middle of nowhere for the elites to shoot them in canned hunting. It was grim up there. All you could see were a couple of old rusted ex-Soviet vehicles, and a concrete pit where they were kept.

“Seeing the bears in such terrible conditions with my own eyes was truly heart-breaking.”

Now the bears will be fed on a new diet to boost their body weight, and will be gradually released into a new 1.5 acre site at the park.

Milcho and Gosho are both male bears, aged around 16 years, and have spent their life in captivity. They face months of veterinary treatment and rehabilitation as they are not used to living in a natural environment.

Wildwood’s fundraising manager Warren Ashfield said: “We had a fantastic response from the public. Local schools, businesses and members have helped, and we’ve had donations coming in from nationwide.

“The bears are not in great condition, so it could be three or four months before people can see them at the park.

“We have built a special quarantine enclosure for them, and they will be released one at a time for them to get used to it.

Two brown bears have just arrived at Wildwood animal sanctuary

“The challenge now is to build up their diet, which means they won’t be hibernating this winter.”

He added that Wildwood will have a further fundraising effort to build the new woodland enclosure, including waterfalls and climbing frames.

To find out more about their progress you can visit www.wildwoodtrust.org. To donate you can text BEAR21 and an amount of money to 70070.