Every year in India and Pakistan over 100 bear cubs are illegally poached from the wild and sold at markets to nomadic gypsies known as Kalandars. Many of the cubs die from neglect, dehydration and distress during the long trek back to the Kalandar village. Those cubs that do survive are put on a punishing regime of starvation and beatings as a way to begin the brutal conditioning process to teach them perform for tourists. Their sensitive muzzles are pierced using a hot iron needle without anesthetic, which often leads to infection. A course rope is threaded through the hole and is used to roughly pull the bear around the crowded city streets. "The tug of this rope, along with the intense fear of the strike of a heavy stick, motivates the bear to lift its legs in turn and dance" says Geete Sashamani, a WSPA researcher who witnessed this painful and traumatic process.
Due to poor diets, abuse and neglect, dancing bears rarely live past the age of eight; whereas in the wild they can live up to 30 years. Once captured and cruelly tamed, a dancing bear can never be returned to the wild; its most optimistic outlook is retirement to a sanctuary. This endangered species will become extinct if this trade continues.
1 comment:
Good article! I know why always refused to go to circus. We dont have to be surprised with things that people do. Human or humanity are just some words in the dictionaries
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