India clamps down on 'dancing bear' trade

April 10 2007

Five bear cubs have been rescued from poachers in eastern India as part of efforts to stamp out an illegal trade in "dancing" bears, authorities said on Tuesday.Two poachers were arrested in Bihar state and the cubs were moved to a zoo in the state capital Patna, police said."All the five cubs were in a bad shape," said forest officer Manoj Kumar.The poachers had recently killed the cubs' mother and were keeping them in a house, officials said.Poachers thread ropes through the bears' roughly-pierced snouts and force them to stand on their hind legs as if they were dancing. The bears are also castrated to make them less aggressive.Authorities said the cubs would later be transferred to the Agra Bear Rescue Facility, a sanctuary for dancing bears run with the assistance of Indian and international charities in northern India."Now, their well-being is the main priority," said Rohit Singh of the volunteer group Wildlife SOS.Indian authorities are seeking to stamp out the centuries-old practice of forcing bears to "dance."The nomadic Kalandar tribe, who have no other source of income, use the bears to entertain people, especially in rural areas. The practice was banned in 1972 but has continued. Sloth bears are traditionally preferred because the animals are small and do not hibernate.