Despite a ban enacted in 1972 on using sloth bears as "dancing bears" as street entertainment in India, the practice still exists.
Sloth bear cubs, which were usually purchased at the age of six months from traders and poachers, are trained to dance and follow commands through being beaten and starvation. Some are blind from malnutrition. Males are castrated at an early age, and their teeth are knocked out at the age of one year in order to prevent them from seriously injuring their handlers.
The bears are typically fitted with a nose ring attached to a four foot leash so they can be controlled. This painful ordeal involves having its sensitive muzzle pierced with a crude iron needle heated in fire plunged into the nose without anesthesia.
We ask the Indian government end this cruel and barbaric practice by helping the bear handlers find jobs and education, which enabled them to reduce their reliance on dancing bear income.
Mr. Nilaya Mitash
Director
Ministry of Finance
Room No. 48-D, North Block
New Delhi, Delhi - 110001
India
Tel: + 91 11 2309 2387
Fax: 011 91 11 2309 2387
EMail: nilaya.mitash@gmail.com
Mr. Hem Kumar Pande
Ministry of Environment and Forests
Paryavaran Bhawan, CGO Complex, Lodhi Road, Room No. 627
New Delhi, Delhi - 110003
India
Tel: + 24 36 2551
Fax: 011 24 36 0894
EMail: hempande@nic.in
Despite a ban enacted in 1972 on using sloth bears as "dancing bears" as street entertainment in India, the practice still exists.
Sloth bear cubs, which were usually purchased at the age of six months from traders and poachers, are trained to dance and follow commands through being beaten and starvation. Some are blind from malnutrition. Males are castrated at an early age, and their teeth are knocked out at the age of one year in order to prevent them from seriously injuring their handlers.
The bears are typically fitted with a nose ring attached to a four foot leash so they can be controlled. This painful ordeal involves having its sensitive muzzle pierced with a crude iron needle heated in fire plunged into the nose without anesthesia.
We ask the Indian government end this cruel and barbaric practice by helping the bear handlers find jobs and education, which enabled them to reduce their reliance on dancing bear income.
