Two sloth bears rescued from traders near Varanasi

30/10/2007 00:00:00 May 2007. Following the trail of a Bear cub seized in the heart of Delhi in September 2006, an operation was conducted on 6th May, 2007 by the Uttar Pradesh Forest Department with assistance from Wildlife SOS and One Voice Association, France. The undercover seizure operation resulted in the arrest of two traders (now jailed) who were in possession of two baby sloth bears aged 5 to 6 months old. They had hidden the cubs in a remote location in the Mughal Sarai district near the holy city of Varanasi. The intelligence was coordinated ‘Forestwatch!’ – the wildlife crime intelligence unit of Wildlife S.O.S. According to Kartick Satyanarayan, Co-founder, Wildlife S.O.S ‘The Intelligence gathering & investigation that lead to this seizure was initiated from a raid in 2006 which led to the seizure of one female bear cub’.

Ramesh Chandra Mishra, Conservator Wildlife said, ‘The accused have confessed that the cubs were captured in Mubarakpur Forests in Uttar Pradesh.

Bear cubs are purchased by members of the Kalandar community for use as Dancing Bears and trained by using brutally and cruel techniques such as thrusting a red hot needle through their muzzle to insert a coarse rope through it to make them dance and entertain tourists. Bear Rescue Centre, Agra.
The two rescued baby bears will be housed in the 160 acre 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.

Wildlife SOS (WSOS) runs four Bear Rescue Centres in India to bring an end to the cruel practice of Dancing Bears. Members of the Kalandar community are encouraged by Wildlife SOS to take up alternative livelihoods as a sustainable measure of community rehabilitation.

For more, visit Wildlife SOS.