As many of you are aware, the eight species of bears have snuck their way into my heart and have made me love them so, so very much. I adore them and the way we treat these beautiful and majestic creatures is absolutely disgusting.
What also disgusts me is the fact that, ALREADY, six of these beautiful species are already threatened with extinction. That is 75% of our bear species that could simply dissappear due to our own stupidity and ignorance.
I can't imagine Earth without our bears and my question is: would this world be worth living in without species like the Asiatic Moon Bear, the Sloth Bear, the Grizzly Bear, or the Polar Bear? Honestly, I don't think it would be and I think I'd lose all faith in humanity if we continue to fail to protect them.
Have you ever seen a black bear in it's natural habitat? I have been lucky enough to experience this and seeing this natural display of behavior is something I will cherish for the rest of my life.
If you have ever seen a polar bear, in a zoo or on television, you cannot deny their power and their absolute beauty. This is the case for so many of us and yet we subject bears to such torture.
These days, it doesn't even stop at torture. Bears are under such threat and so much pressure for numbers of reasons that go beyond bear bile farming, bear baiting, and dancing bears. Bears are poached illegally throughout the world for trophies and body parts. Whether it be their reproductive parts used for aphrodisiacs or for their bones, teeth, and claws which are used to ward off evil spirits, the bottom line is: it's effin' wrong.
As if bear baiting and bear bile farming are not enough, bear dancing just adds onto it.
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12. Dancing Bears - as an issue remotely in India, Pakistan, SriLanka, and Bangladesh, bear dancing takes the cake. Such stoic animals, it is no wonder why bears are continuously subjected to such harm and inhumanity.
Imagine it.
You're a young sloth or black bear (or a cub). You lived a lovely natural life in the wild, until one day, you were renched from your mother or the natural habitat you had just begun to call home. You have just been poached from the wild and nine-times-out-of-ten, your poacher killed your mother.
As a baby or young one, you have no idea what's going on, but the next thing you know, your claws are being ripped out; your teeth are being broken and destroyed by a hammer. This is all to make you easier to handle. Along with this, a hot rod has been shoved up your nose, searing a hole through the top of your snout. Later, a rope will be threaded through this hole. This is the rope that will force you to dance.
Your handler will raise this rope above your head, forcing you to stand up and bend to his will just to escape the pain. This is what they call dancing. Your handler may also train you a different way- a horrible way. The Roma (gypsies) training method will involve greasing your paws and having you stand on hot plates while music plates. You will hop on the plate to avoid the pain and your handler will interpret this as dancing. Eventually, you'll associate the music with the pain and dance repetitively anytime music is played.
Now that you've imagined this, can you call it 'entertainment'. It is not entertainment, it is cruelty. Some say this is tradition, but I call bullshit! Cruelty is cruelty no matter where it occurs. Most human beings have essentially the same sense of right and wrong, but somehow monetary gain has blurred the line. How people can sit and watch this act is astonishing and absurd at all the same time.
Which would you rather see?
A happy, shy, but curious bear in its natural home...
or...
a bear at the end of a rope forced to withstand amassed cruelty?
My answer is simple and yours should be too.
Many of you have probably never even heard of a sloth bear. Sloth bears live on the Indian subcontinent, where their habitat has been lost, degraded, and fragmented due to over-harvest of forest products such as timber, fuel, fodder, fruits, and honey. As well, the establishment of monoculter plantations are taking over habitat. Other threats include the settlement of refugees, expansion of agricultural areas, human settlement, and the implimentation of roads. Sloth bears are incredibly threatened due to habitat loss and yet, this isn't enough for the bears to be put through. We have to make everything worse, because that's what humans do: make things worse. Instead of letting sloth bears enjoy the little habitat they have left, we force them to do things so unnatural to them just for our entertainment.
In 2007, it was believed that anywhere from 500 to 2,000 sloth bears were kept in captivity to use as performers. This is a large number when compared to the mere 8,000 that live in the wild. What makes this so sad is that a sloth bear can live up to 20 years in the wild, but once they are captured for this purpose, their life span is cut in over half. Dancing bears hardly ever live to be older than 7 or 8 years of age.
I'm sure many think this is a secluded problem, but its not. Unfortunately, this is an international problem. Until recently, bears were used throughout Europe for this form of entertainment. It is believed that Bulgaria was the last country in Europe to use dancing bears. The spread throughout Europe was due, in large, to the travel of nomadic tribes and gypsies. The last three dancing bears (that we know of) in Bulgaria were surrendered to a sanctuary in June 2007. This was not the end though. There have been several incidents reported in Spain in 2007, despite the European law banning the trade.
Luckily, it is believed that bear dancing will have been completely eradicated by December of this year and that the last remaining dancing bears will finally be released from their pain and into the proper care of a sanctuary. For the sake of humanity and our place as the "healers" of this planet, I hope this becomes reality. It'll definitely lift my heart and convince me that there is still hope for the human race.
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I honestly believe money has tainted this world and is predominantly responsible for its destruction. Money and the people who seek it with no moral obligation as human beings are the cause of the dancing bear trade. And, for my own sanity, I hope they all burn in hell.
What also shocks me is the state these bears are kept in. These bears symbolize dollar signs for their handlers and yet they cannot be bothered to even care for the animals. The bears are kept in poor, small, and filthy conditions and they are deprived of food and water.
Why?
The handlers are looking for sympathy. They believe by keeping the bear in poor condition, you will feel obligated to give them money, feeling as if you are doing something to help the animal. This is not the case in any way, shape, or form. It is all about the handlers gain and that is what your money goes to. You don't help the bear, you help the handler in continuing his trade.
PLEASE, PLEASE, PLEASE! Do not ever support animal shows of any kind! Do not give them your money! Report them so they can be dealt with and cannot continue to torture animals!
BEARS ARE NOT ITEM NUMBERS!!!
Thanks for reading,
Ashley
Photo: Hippo moving through the Okavango River Delta
