A STATUE of a brown bear which served alongside Polish soldiers in the Second World War is to be erected in Scotland's capital city.
Edinburgh City Council has granted permission for the memorial to Wojtek, a bear that "retired" in the city and was kept at the zoo until his death in 1963, to be placed in West Princes Street Gardens.
The bear was rescued in 1942 as an orphaned cub by Polish soldiers who were eventually allowed to keep him as their mascot.
During the war he was given a name, rank and serial number and carried munitions during the Battle of Monte Cassino in 1944.
He arrived in Scotland after the war and was taken with his comrades to a camp in Berwickshire.
Wojtek later moved to Edinburgh.
The monument, which shows Wojtek with a Polish soldier, was created by Alan Beattie Herriot.
Aileen Orr, founder of the Wojtek Memorial Trust, originally commissioned the statue in 2008 to be placed on the farm in Berwickshire, which formerly housed the camp but is now her home.
She said: "Little did we know how big this project would become. But the combination of the story and Alan's fantastic work has touched the hearts of thousands around the world."
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