IN 2019, WILDLIFE conservationists, especially those caring for bears, celebrated a very special anniversary—the 10th anniversary of the rescue of the last ‘dancing’ bear from India’s streets. The sloth bear named Raju, who was eight years old at the time, was freed from Chikkaharavalli in Karnataka by Wildlife SOS, an organization dedicated to saving and rehabilitating abused wildlife. The case marked their 628th bear rescue.
This informal roadside entertainment, once rampant on Indian streets, came from a 400-year-old tradition of man’s pursuit of divertissement. The community that primarily made a living from this practice, the Kalandars, once regaled and delighted nobles by making bears perform tricks.
But the story behind the performances is far from pleasurable. Any service derived from animals is made possible only through training practices grounded in deep cruelty. The bears for instance, would be captured as cubs after their mothers were killed. Their muzzles would then be pierced with hot iron rods, and threaded with thick ropes that, when tugged, made the animals jump and prance in pain. This was how Raju too spent his youngest years.
Now 23, Raju has a new name— Adit—and a new address at the Bannerghatta Bear Rescue Centre in Bengaluru, far from the miseries he endured on the streets. His rehabilitation, and that of all captive sloth bears, came after the Kalandars were empowered with new opportunities for education and alternative livelihoods. Kartick Satyanarayan, co-founder of Wildlife SOS, the group that pioneered the project, confirmed to Reader’s Digest that not a single dancing bear can be found in India anymore.
The Cruelty of Captivity
Denne historien er fra June 2024-utgaven av Reader's Digest India.
Start din 7-dagers gratis prøveperiode på Magzter GOLD for å få tilgang til tusenvis av utvalgte premiumhistorier og 9000+ magasiner og aviser.
Allerede abonnent ? Logg på
Denne historien er fra June 2024-utgaven av Reader's Digest India.
Start din 7-dagers gratis prøveperiode på Magzter GOLD for å få tilgang til tusenvis av utvalgte premiumhistorier og 9000+ magasiner og aviser.
Allerede abonnent? Logg på
ME & MY SHELF
Chitra Divakaruni is the author of 23 books including The Forest of Enchantment, Mistress of Spices and Palace of Illusions. Her latest book is An Uncommon Love: The Early Life of Sudha and Narayan Murthy.
RD RECOMMENDS-BOOKS
Hanuman Chalisa and More
Who's Getting Colon Cancer
With rates rising among younger people, testing should start sooner
25 Lessons That Last A Lifetime
Suggestions about life are a little like lottery tickets: You may collect a lot of them, but they rarely pay off. Yet if you are truly lucky, you receive a few words of wisdom that inspire you forever. That's called hitting the jackpot
A Symphony Of Irritation
In the 2022 film Tár, Cate Blanchett played a conductor who was affected by misophonia—an acute sensitivity to certain sounds. For Lydia Tár, Blanchett’s character, the clicking of a pen or the beat of a metronome was enough to drive her to distraction.
Is Poverty Alleviation Truly Possible?
We ask economist and Nobel laureate Esther Duflo
The Alpha Dog
To rescue lost animals, she climbs into places most of us avoid
Let's Say Yes!
What started out as a way to get my son to try new foods opened up a world of adventure for my family
Hey Dad, Can You Help Me Return the Picasso I Stole?
A painting went missing in 1969, then turned up at a museums doorstep. No one knew how or why—until now
Band of Survivors
Armed with his drum kit, a Holocaust survivor fights anti-Semitism one musical note at a time