TORONTO, Nov. 26, 2012 /CNW/ - Today India has launched a national bear welfare and conservation plan to help prevent cruelty to bears and protect vulnerable wild populations. The strategy will also prevent the re-emergence of the brutal practice of bear dancing.
The Government worked with leading global and national organizations, including the World Society for the Protection of Animals (WSPA) to create the National Bear Conservation and Welfare Action Plan (NBCWAP). The far-reaching strategy will protect bear populations in the wild and tackle the main issues threatening bears including: illegal trade in bear body parts and bear cubs, reducing human-bear conflicts, and habitat loss.
With the plan underway, WSPA completes 17 years of bear welfare work in India and announces the successful closure of its Alternative Livelihood Program with partners the Wildlife Trust of India (WTI). This unique five year project has empowered Kalandars - the traditional dancing bear owners - to learn new skills that can provide stable incomes for their families and release their bears from lives of misery.
The WSPA and WTI program has had a 100 percent success rate. None of the final 50 Kalandars have returned to cruel bear dancing. Most participants continue to earn above average wages a year later in their alternative careers. One Kalandar, who trained as a baker, now runs his own bakery employing other community members. In Chorbhatti village, former bear owners have set-up a self-help group that covers small loans for fellow Kalandars to help expand their businesses.
Before the end of bear dancing, more than 100 bear cubs were poached from the wild every year to meet demand. Cubs had their teeth knocked out and their noses pierced with hot needles. Nose rings were used to train the bears to dance.
WSPA CEO Mike Baker today joined WTI colleagues in New Delhi to officially close WSPA's successful program. "Today is a momentous day - India's bears have finally been recognized as the magnificent creatures they are. No longer are they viewed as commodities and treated cruelly for entertainment. They are truly respected and are protected in their natural environment, taking their rightful place alongside other treasured wild animals such as tigers and elephants" says Baker.
WTI's Chief Executive Vivek Menon added: "Generations of Kalandars had been trapped in their traditional livelihoods of bear dancing - a practice that exposed bears to great cruelty and suffering. The last of India's Kalandars now have stable incomes and are sending their children to school while their bears are free from harm and cruelty."
As WSPA finalizes this successful program to protect bears in India, it will be expanding its animal welfare campaigns in the country. WSPA will continue to implement animal welfare training for veterinarians and remote communities to improve protection for animals during disasters.
B-roll of Kalandar interviews: https://www.dropbox.com/sh/13o8jhm1x69dlf9/_uwBXHObGg
Images: http://www.flickr.com/photos/wspaasiapacific/collections/72157631986183946/
About WSPA
WSPA (World Society for the Protection of Animals) is the world's leading animal welfare charity. We have been protecting animals around the world for over 30 years. We passionately believe that animal welfare matters. At WSPA we will always expose and oppose the exploitation and suffering of animals. We believe animal cruelty must end, whether that animal is in the wild, living in the community, caught up in a disaster, or being farmed. Today, WSPA works in over 50 countries, collaborating with local communities, NGOs and governments that can help us change animals' lives for the better. We also act for animals at a global level, using our United Nations consultative status to give them a voice. We work responsibly and sustainably, to put animal welfare on the global agenda and show that what's good for animals is good for the world.
For more information about WSPA visit www.wspa.ca; follow us on Twitter or 'Like' us on Facebook.
Image with caption: "Kalandar and his dancing bear in Agra, Uttar Pradesh, India © WSPA 2005. A dancing bear worked on average six hours a day according to Kalandars, but on festivals, at village fairs and at marriages, or to celebrate the birth of a child, a dancing bear could spend 10 hours a day catering to the crowds. (CNW Group/World Society for the Protection of Animals)". Image available at: http://photos.newswire.ca/images/download/20121126_C3087_PHOTO_EN_21109.jpg
SOURCE: World Society for the Protection of Animals
For more information and interview opportunities please contact:
Elizabeth Sharpe, Communications Manager, WSPA: Tel: (416) 369-0044 x111; Cell: (647) 268-8122; Email: [email protected]
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