By IANS
Agra : Forest officials here recovered a pair of baby sloth bears, leading to the arrest of two wildlife traders for their illegal possession.
Uttar Pradesh forest department officials – along with members of Wildlife SOS and One Voice Association, France – found the five to six-month-old cubs Sunday in a remote location in the Mughal Sarai district, near the holy city of Varanasi.
"The two 'owners' of the cubs – Ithwar and Jumman – have been sent to Varanasi jail," said Vasudha Mehta, an official of Wildlife SOS, headquartered in Agra.
Ramesh Chandra Mishra, a wildlife conservator, said: "During initial interrogations, the accused confessed that the cubs were procured from Mubarakpur forests in the Kashi wildlife division of Uttar Pradesh."
Kartick Satyanarayan, co-founder of Wildlife SOS, said: "The intelligence gathering and investigation that led to this seizure were initiated after an earlier raid in September at the Kathputli Colony in Delhi that led to the seizure of a female bear cub."
Bear cubs are purchased by members of the Kalandar community for use as dancing bears.
The two rescued baby bears will be shifted to the Agra Bear Rescue Facility, the only facility of its kind in the world for rescued sloth bears. The centre is managed by Wildlife SOS in collaboration with the Uttar Pradesh forest department.