A dramatic rescue of two tortured sloth bears took place in Nepal on 19 December, 2017 by the Jane Goodall Institute of Nepal, with support from World Animal Protection and Nepali police.
These are the last two known Nepali owned, illegal ‘dancing bears’. Rangila (19 years) and Sridevi (17 years) were taken from their mother at an early age and forced to perform. Their owner pierced their noses with a burning hot rod and shoved a rope through it – to retain control of the large animals. Harsh training methods are used to make them submissive enough to perform for tourists.
With the help of local police, the bears were found in Iharbari, Nepal. The rescue was emotional for all involved. The bears were in an extremely distressed state; showing signs of psychological trauma such as cowering, pacing and paw sucking.
The bears are now on their way to be placed in the temporary care of Parsa National Park.
This is not the first time using bears for entertainment has been eradicated in an area and World Animal Protection has a 20-year history of working with local partners to end such cruelty. Seeing an end to bear dancing in Greece, Turkeyand India, the NGO is also close to phasing out bear baiting in Pakistan.
Neil D’Cruze, World Animal Protection said:
“Rangila and Sridevi have suffered for too long in captivity since they were poached from the wild. It’s extremely distressing to see animals being stolen from the wild and the sad reality is there are more wild animals suffering across the world, purely for the entertainment of tourists. I am pleased that for these two sloth bears at least; a happy ending is finally in sight.”
Manoj Gautam, Jane Goodall Institute of Nepal says:
“We are thrilled that the last two known Nepali dancing bears have been rescued from their lifetime of suffering. After a year of tracking them, using our own intelligence and in cooperation with local police, our hard effort and dedication has helped to bring an end to this illegal tradition in Nepal.”
NEON WILDE 