Diary - Dancing Bear Rescue
Victoria is a beautiful bear enjoying life at the sanctuary in Agra, India. Behind those big brown eyes is a past full of unimaginable pain and suffering which she experienced as a victim of the dancing bear trade.
In 2013, our partners Wildlife SOS found her in a terrible condition. Her majestic coat of fur had become overgrown, filthy and infested with parasites. On top of this, she was also suffering from a painful, untreated wound on her muzzle, caused by a rope being forced through it by her heartless captors.
This poor bear had also...
Back in 2007, a rescue team sent out by our partners Wildlife SOS, rescued a bear later named Kasthuri from a Kalandar settlement in West Bengal. At only six months old, the only life she knew was filled with an incredible amount of pain and misery.
As part of her indoctrination as a dancing bear, she would have had a huge, red hot, iron poker forcibily shoved through her muzzle. A rope would have then been fed through the fresh wound, ensuring that the wound would never heal and giving her captors complete control over her. Every time the rope was...
Giri was 3 months old when he was rescued. He was found tied up, underweight and weak, curled up alongside another young bear. He was suffering from a horrible infection in his nose, and required urgent medical care to stop his condition worsening. The rescue took place as a part of an anti-poaching operation carried out by our partners, Wildlife SOS.
Giri, and the other bear, were rushed to the Agra Bear Rescue facility. This facility is equipped with specialist equipment and rehabilitative facilities to provide the bears with the urgent care that...
We rescued Truffles with our partners Wildlife SOS when he was just a little over a year old. He and three other young sloth bears were rescued from a group of poachers based in Jharkhand. All four of the bears were sold into a life of misery as dancing bears across the Indo-Nepal border, where this cruel practice is still on-going.
When we first rescued Truffles back in 2013, we were greeted with the shocking site of a scrawny, weak bear with matted fur and a look of sadness in his eyes. His muzzle had been pierced, leaving an open, gaping wound...
This is Balu – he is one of the most laid back bears at the Bannerghatta Bear Rescue Centre.
He was rescued when he was just seven years old. At first he was understandably frightened and traumatised, but unlike most bears, he adapted to his new life of freedom from the very moment he arrived at the centre. And he hasn’t looked back since.
Balu is sometimes called ‘The Digger’ as he is very fond of digging, sometimes for termites or ants but often just for fun. He can spend hours digging but also loves to run around. The other bears enjoy...
Today we are reflecting on the amazing recovery Goldie has made since he was rescued back in 2013. Goldie was poached from the wild when he was just a cub and was forced to dance on the streets.
Upon rescue, Goldie was alone and in agony - he was weak with hunger and crippled with pain.
When he entered the sanctuary gates he seemed to have a broken...
It’s been thirteen years since Chotu first arrived at our Agra Bear Rescue Facility after being rescued from a Kalandar community, where he was made to perform and entertain the masses. The cruelty and sheer negligence on the part of his owner was clearly evident, who was simply exploiting him to earn a living.
Rehabilitation of rescued animals is always a challenge as having led a majority of their lives on captivity; they have never been given the chance to experience and exhibit their natural behavior. With time, we were able to get Chotu to...
Forced into becoming a dancing bear by her Kalandar owners, Chitra had been subjected to years of abuse and injustice. Neglected and made to starve for months at a stretch, she had lost all hope.
These days Chitra has gained the reputation of being one of the feistiest bears at the Bannerghatta Bear Rescue Centre and is unsurprisingly wary of humans. Given her guarded and temperamental nature, the veterinarians at the centre are attempting to positively condition Chitra using her favourite treats as incentives. She is responding well to her...
In March 2015, Wildlife SOS’ anti-poaching team, Forest Watch, had received a tip about a bear cub being smuggled across the Indo-Nepal border. The team believed that the cub was being poached for sale to the Nat community in Nepal. The Nat are a nomadic community from the northern parts of India and parts of Nepal, members of which gained notoriety as traffickers of sloth bears and other animals, which would eventually be used as performing animals or then for use in traditional Chinese medicine. Following the tip-off, an all-night raid sometime near the...
Soniya was rescued from poachers by our partners at Wildlife SOS and brought to our Agra Bear Rescue Centre in 2008. She was saved from what would have been a lifetime of neglect and abuse and can now live a free and happy life that closely resembles the life she would have had in the wild. This life of freedom is perfect for this beautiful bear, and she is always exploring her large free-range enclosure.
At six years old, Soniya is a large bear weighing a healthy 105 kilos (she has gained nearly 80 kilos since her rescue). This is mostly due to the...