Cruelty towards dancing bears in India



Dancing bear



Dancing bears don’t have a happy life. When they are four or five weeks old they are taken away from their mother. If the mother tries to protect her little babies then she is cruelly killed. Then they are taken to the Kalandar’s village. The Kalandars is a nomadic tribe. On the journey to the village of the Kalandar’s many of the baby sloth bears die because of starvation, shock and dehydration. The poor little bears who survive are sold to the Kalandars for 800 RS.

In the Kalandars village the infant bear is put under a basket. It is left without food, water or any contact of the outside world. Like this it spends its first few days. Then it is taken out and tied up to a post in the village where children torment the poor bear. Then a hot needle is inserted into the nuzzle of the bear, without anesthesia. Then a ring is attached to the piercing. This happens before the age of six months. Often a second piercing is done.

Before the cub has reached the age of one year their incisor and canine teeth are knocked out with a hammer. Because of this the bears can only eat soft food, and that causes digestive problems.

Then the bear is trained cruelly. The owner wants the bear to be scared of him. Between 60% or 70% of the poor little bear cubs die before they can be even trained. But infect the cubs who die are lucky. As the owner wants that the bears to be submissive he tortures them, beats them and starves them till they spirit is broken and the they become submissive.

How to train a sloth bear?

Hot coals are placed under their feet. This is to make the bear stand on its hind legs. Once standing the bear’s trainers hit each of the poor bear’s paws with a stick. To avoid that the bear will lift his hind paws in turn. The trainers of the bear tap the bear’s muzzle, so that the bear lifts its paws on its muzzle. Now it is a dancing bear.

The bear works for 6 hours a day and when special occasions are there, they work for 10 hours. The bear and owner travel for long distances on foot for 8 or 9 months a year.

When a bear is sick the owner usually consults the village elders instead of a vet.

Oh, I forgot to tell you one more earth shattering fact.




A sloth bear lives for 30 years in freedom, but in captivity they hardly ever live beyond the age of 8 years.

Once the bear is too old to dance or is sick  (many bears have the disease of tuberculosis) is often send to Pakistan for bear baiting fights. In these fights the bear is tied, then dogs are set on the bear. If the bear survives, when its wounds are fine it will again be in a fight. A bear usually only lasts three fights before it is ripped into pieces.



Bear baiting