captive Sloth Bear, (Melursus ursinus), used as dancing bear for entertainment, Bharatpur, Rajasthan, India
Despite a ban on the practice that was enacted in 1972, as many as 800 dancing bears were in the streets of India during the latter part of the 20th century, particularly on the highway between Delhi, Agra, and Jaipur. Sloth bear cubs, which were usually purchased at the age of six months from traders and poachers, were trained to dance and follow commands through coercive stimuli and starvation. Males were castrated at an early age, and their teeth were knocked out at the age of one year to prevent them from seriously injuring their handlers. The bears were typically fitted with a nose ring attached to a four-foot leash. Some were found to be blind from malnutrition.[45] In 2009, following a seven-year campaign by a coalition of Indian and international animal welfare groups, the last Kalandar dancing bear was set free.[46] The effort to end the practice involved helping the bear handlers find jobs and education, which enabled them to reduce their reliance on dancing-bear income.[47]A tame bear, often called a dancing bear, is a wild bear captured when the animal was young, or born and bred in captivity, and used to entertain people in streets or taverns. Dancing bears were commonplace throughout Europe and Asia from the Middle Ages to the nineteenth century, and can still be found in the 21st century in some countries.
Size: 3587px × 5201px
Location: Bharatpur, Rajasthan, India
Photo credit: © Dominic Robinson / Alamy / Afripics
License: Licensed
Model Released: No
Keywords: abuse, abused, animal, animals, asia, asian, bear, bharatpur, captive, cruelty, dancing, exploitation, held, india, indian, labiated, mammal, mammals, melursus, rajasthan, sloth, stickney, subcontinent, tamed, tied, ursinus, wild, wildlife
