Activists thought they’d rescued India’s last dancing bear. Sadly, they were mistaken

India outlawed forcing bears to dance for entertainment in 1972, with animal-rights groups heralding the rescue of the last one in captivity in 2009

But the grisly, painful practice is now seeing a resurgence, according to activists, who blame it on remote forest tribesmen’s ‘operational memory’

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A sloth bear is seen being forced to dance and perform tricks for villagers’ entertainment in Bari Naki, India’s Bihar state. Photo: Handout

Published: 12:00pm, 17 Apr 2024

It was during a routine check last month for evidence of animal cruelty that a YouTube video caught the attention of Wildlife Trust of India staff. The grainy video showed a crowd of onlookers watching a bear dance, in clear violation of a practice India outlawed in 1972.

The trust’s surveillance team analysed the video and checked car registration plates, eventually identifying Bari Naki village in Bihar state, bordering Nepal, as the location of the performance. The forest department was alerted and three bears were discovered at the village and seized.

Since then, forest department officials have seized five more bears across villages in Bihar and neighbouring Jharkhand state.

“[This] points to a resurgence [of people forcing bears to dance],” said Jose Louies, enforcement chief at the Wildlife Trust of India.

“It’s not just money that villagers pay to see the bear. Once you have a crowd, you can sell them bear hair, claws, or nails as lucky charms to make money,” he said.

India banned the practice of forcing bears to dance in 1972, but critics say enforcement is lacking. The Wildlife Trust of India, Wildlife SOS and many other environmental groups have worked for years with the nomadic Kalandar tribe – which traditionally relied on dancing bears for their livelihoods – to persuade them to stop the practice.

A female sloth bear cub seized in Jharkhand by the forest department. India banned the practice of forcing bears to dance in 1972, but critics say enforcement is lacking. Photo: Handout