Wildlife SOS franchises dancing bear sanctuaries

[Guest guest]

From ANIMAL PEOPLE, April 2007:

 

 

Wildlife SOS " franchises " dancing bear sanctuaries

 

AGRA--Wildlife SOS, operating three sanctuaries for dancing

bears, has made a speciality of helping Kalandar dancing bear

exhibitors into other occupations, in exchange for their bears and a

pledge to stay out of promoting animal acts.

Frequently the price of a dancing bear is the training and

start-up capital to enable a Kalandar family to start a small

business, a sharp break from a tradition so ancient that many of the

oldest circus families worldwide--such as the Chipperfields,

performing in Britain since 1683--appear to have Kalandar origins.

" We have seen a change in attitude amongst the Kalandar

people themselves, " says Wildlife SOS cofounder Kartick

Satyanarayan. " Bear poachers in Uttar Pradesh state recently tried

to sell a young cub to a Kalandar community, but the villagers

refused to buy the cub because they knew this would be against the

law. I truly feel there is an end in sight, " Satyanarayn

emphasizes, " and one day the streets of India will be free of

captive bears being tortured for entertainment. "

Wildlife SOS began as a wildlife rescue auxiliary to the

Friendicoes Society for the Eradication of Cruelty to Animals in New

Delhi. In 1996 Wildlife SOS began building a dancing bear sanctuary

on 20 acres within the Sur Sarovar wildlife refuge, 17 kilometres

from the Taj Mahal in nearby Agra. Initiated as part of a

multinational string of dancing bear sanctuaries funded by the World

Society for the Protection of Animals, the first Wildlife SOS

sanctuary was completed six years later as the first Animal Rescue

Center accredited by the Central Zoo Authority of India, after a

split with WSPA.

It opened on Christmas Day 2002, sponsored by International

Animal Rescue, Save the Bears, and One Voice.

Observed ANIMAL PEOPLE publisher Kim Bartlett on a recent

visit, " The area designated for Wildlife SOS was cleared land, but

they planted trees that have grown so fast that it seems to be a

natural jungle. The feel of it is exactly the same as at Keoladeo

Ghana National Park, " the renowned bird sanctuary near Bharatpur,

before recent years of drought drained most of the habitat.

" Wild animals are moving in from elsewhere, " said Bartlett,

who photographed a 20-foot python nearby, " and they are all safe

there. Wildlife SOS takes other species of rescued animals into the

facility, " as necessary. Civets and nilgai were on the premises

when Bartlett visited.

" These bears are not dangerous to the handlers, who can come

and go in their enclosures with no fear, " Bartlett saw. " The bears

sleep in their inner dens, or outside, as they wish. It is all

very natural.

" The land for the bears goes down to the river that circles

around the back of the Taj Mahal, " Bartlett added. " They are trying

to secure a parcel of land on the other side of the river, so as to

expand the bear facilities, as they are expecting to receive more

bears. "

Meanwhile, Wildlife SOS has opened two additional Animal

Rescue Centres for rescued bears--within Bannerghatta National Park,

near Bangalore, in Karnataka state, and at Van Vihar, near Bhopal,

in Madya Pradesh state.

 

 

 

--

Merritt Clifton

Editor, ANIMAL PEOPLE

P.O. Box 960

Clinton, WA 98236

 

Telephone: 360-579-2505

Fax: 360-579-2575

E-mail: anmlpepl

Web: www.animalpeoplenews.org

 

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