IAR News

September 2007

Babu bear is free at last

Babu, an Indian dancing bear, has been freed from torture after twelve long years of pain at the hands of Kalandar nomads. Now he and two other rescued bears are safely in the hands of IAR’s partners Wildlife SOS of India.

Babu was poached from the wild as a cub when he was only weeks old and his mother was killed as she tried to protect him. His Kalandar master made a hole in his muzzle with a red hot iron poker and inserted a thick, heavy brass ring the size of a large bracelet through it. Babu’s muzzle was soft and delicate and the weight of the brass ring undoubtedly caused him intense pain. It was this pain that made him jump up and down when his master flicked the rope that was tied to the ring. He looked as though he was dancing, but in fact he was trying to escape the pain in his nose.

News of the plight of the three bears reached Kartick Satyanarayan, Co-founder of Wildlife SOS, and a team was immediately dispatched to help them.

The vets arrived from the Agra Bear Rescue Facility at the centre in Pune, Maharashtra, where Babu and his companions were being housed temporarily. Dr.Ilayaraja and Baiju Raj were part of the team and were shocked to see how the bear had been forced to suffer such pain for so long.

After careful and patient observation of the bear’s behaviour, the Wildlife SOS team anesthetised Babu with a dart. He was soon fast asleep and unable to feel a thing. Cutting the thick heavy ring was quite a task and it had to be done very skillfully so as not to injure the bear. Eventually it was removed and Babu was free. The ring had also caused an infection on the inside of his muzzle that was swollen and filled with pus. He was treated with antibiotics and painkillers.

Dr.Ilayaraja, Wildlife SOS’s Veterinary Officer, said: "It feels so good to be able to relieve this animal of the pain he has suffered silently for so many years."

Babu bear is soon to be relocated with his two other companions to the Agra Bear Rescue Facility, a landmark collaborative project between WSOS and the State Forest Department which has recently been expanded to 160 acres. The Agra Bear Rescue Facility is primarily funded by International Animal Rescue.

Geeta Seshamani, Co-founder of Wildlife SOS, explained: "The ring to us signifies slavery which the bear has patiently suffered all its life. This freedom from the ring is true freedom from pain and suffering.

"All of us had tears of joy as the ring finally came off. To see the animal being able to breathe normally is such a relief."

Alan Knight OBE, CEO of International Animal Rescue, said, "Nothing can give us more satisfaction and happiness than to see these shy, beautiful bears, who have been much exploited in the brutal dancing bear trade finally getting the freedom they deserve."

The entire procedure was carried out in the Pune Centre where the animals were temporarily housed by the State Forest department. The founder and director of the Centre, Dr. Neelim Kumar Khaire, expressed his happiness in the action taken by Wildlife SOS to relieve the suffering of the bears so swiftly.

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