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International Animal Rescue |
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  "Each and every one of us has the ability to look at an animal and see if that animal is in pain. And if an animal is in pain, surely if we are human – if we are caring, thinking people – surely it is our responsibility to try to do whatever we can to stop that suffering." John Hicks, IAR Founder  Read our annual review |
India: AgraDancing bears have been on the streets of India for centuries. As more and more tourists visited the country, so the pitiful sight of these wonderful sloth bears being forced to perform could be encountered right across the country. In 1972 the Indian government finally outlawed this cruel practice. But at that time there was no facility to house any animals that were confiscated.
The Agra Bear Rescue Facility is managed by our Indian partners Wildlife SOS. Since taking in the first six bears on Christmas Eve 2002, the project has proved so successful that by January 2007 more than 350 bears had been rescued. The majority are housed in Agra, others at a second sanctuary in Bannerghatta near Bangalore.
To make the bear ‘dance’ its handler jerks the rope upwards and the agony of the rope tugging at the open wound quickly teaches it to stand on its hind legs to avoid the pain. After such appalling suffering and abuse, it takes time for each rescued bear to adjust to its new surroundings and begin to trust its keeper. A detailed picture is being built up of the health of each bear. Many require extensive dental surgery to relieve the pain of having their teeth viciously removed. The rescued bears are provided with all kinds of environmental enrichment to amuse and stimulate them and prevent boredom. They have dens built out of local stone where they can escape from the heat of the day and freshwater pools where they can play and cool off.
The Agra Bear Rescue Facility is under the overall supervision of the Uttar Pradesh Forestry Department on land within the Sur Sarovar Bird Sanctuary. In 2006 IAR and WSOS signed an agreement on an additional large area of land to expand the facility and accommodate hundreds more rescued bears. > Dancing Bears: Learn more about the dancing bears of India Help us spread the wordPlease consider adding a banner to your website. Simply copy and paste the codes below into your page. > More web banners
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It was another 30 years before the first purpose-built bear sanctuary opened its doors in Agra, just a few kilometres north of the famous Taj Mahal. In the meantime, Kalandar nomads were granted licences to continue to ‘dance’ the bears until they were required to surrender them to the sanctuary in the presence of a government forestry officer. In exchange, the bear handlers were given seed money for retraining and to set up small businesses so they could continue to support their families.
After a three month period in quarantine, once they have been given a clean bill of health, the rescued bears are released into socialisation enclosures. Here they get used to their new surroundings and meet other bears. The bears in our care have been horrifically abused during their lives. Most have had their incisor and canine teeth removed and their claws ripped out or cut back to the quick. Worse still, when the bear is only a few months old a red hot poker is forced into its sensitive nose and up and out through the top of its snout. A rope is then threaded through this raw wound.
A survey conducted by Wildlife SOS in 2006 estimates that there are still 600 dancing bears on the streets of India. Together with our Indian partners we aim to provide a safe haven for each and every one of them. We have the government and forestry department on our side. 
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