By IANS,
New Delhi : Animal welfare organisation Wildlife SOS has rescued eight dancing bears from Nepal and shifted them to a temporary holding centre in India.
Wildlife SOS was helped by a Nepalese NGO Roots and Shoots in tracking down the bears and a team of vets, keepers and experts rescued the bears last month.
“The porous borders between Nepal and India makes it an attractive option for wildlife poachers, traders, and indeed anyone seeking to profit from the exploitation of endangered species to smuggle wild animals and contraband across and conceal themselves in remote areas,” said Kartick Satyanarayan, co-founder of Wildlife SOS.
The rescued bears will be moved to Agra Bear Sanctuary run jointly by the Uttar Pradesh Forest Department and Wildlife SOS.
Dancing bears are domesticated bears, trained to dance and respond to commands using the crude tools of pain and fear. They are tamed by Qalandars, a nomadic gipsy tribe.
In India, bear dancing is banned by the Wildlife Protection Act 1972. But various socio-economic and political factors have made it a difficult task to implement this law.
The dancing bear rescue project in India first began in 2002 and is supported by several key groups who are committed to provide life-time care for the hundreds of bears that have already been rescued. The last dancing bear was rescued by the Wildlife SOS in 2009.
Geeta Seshamani of Wildlife SOS said: “The eight rescued bears will eventually be moved to our sanctuary in Agra which cares for several hundred rescued bears and gives them the freedom and the dignity to live life as nature intended.”
“Collaboration between countries in this case is really helping. In addition, Wildlife SOS is focusing on anti-poaching efforts to curb poaching of bear cubs from the wild in addition to conservation of sloth bear habitat. Conservation of bears in the wild is our ultimate objective,” he said.