more-inRaju, India’s last dancing bear, marked seven years of his freedom on Monday. The 15-year-old sloth bear spent the first eight years of his life as a ‘dancing bear’ and was allegedly subject to abuse by his owner. In 2009, he was rescued by Wildlife SOS, an NGO, as part of its Dancing Bear Rehabilitation Project. With support from the Ministry of Environment and Forests, Wildlife SOS not only rescued the endangered bears but also rehabilitated the ‘Kalandar’ communities, engaged in the bear dancing practice for centuries. To end this cruel practice and protect the sloth bear population, we had to begin with upliftment of Kalandar community.”

Source: The Hindu December 18, 2017 17:48 UTC