Dancing Bear Facts

Finally for my Week of the Bear here are some dancing bear facts.

• Dancing bears are usually taken as very small cubs with the majority of them being captured and mutilated at 1 years old or younger.
• The people who capture and train the bears in Pakistan and India are called 'madaris'. Although the practice is illegal it still goes on.
• Holes are burned through the bar's noses and ropes are threaded through. Pulling on the rope is one way to make the bears dance.
• Bears are forced to dance up to 12 hours per day and their training is mainly managed through pain and starvatin.
• Most bears live less than a third as long as they would have done in the wild.

So I hope you have enjoyed my Week of the Bear (if enjoy is the right word?!?). Thanks to everyone for reading and commenting.

Next week we have the Week of the Lion.

Dulcie
xxx

Dancing Bears Footage

All

I promised you some dancing bear facts but unfortunately I am bringing you far more today. I debated long and hard with myself about whether to post a video of dancing bears. My thoughts against it were twofold. Firstly I didn't want to offend, and make no mistake these images are offensive. Secondly I was concerned that the images I brought you may have, at some point, benefited financially from the video.
I eventually decided to post the video. I decided that, though offensive, this issue is real and not one which the Born Free Foundation shy away from. I also found a clip which was produced and posted on You Tube by the World Society for Protection of Animals so hopefully no-one is benefiting financially from the footage.

So in my next post I will be bringing you some facts about the treatment of dancing bears but in advance of that here is a video from the WSPA.Please don't watch this if you think it may upset you.

Dulcie