Last Dance Of The Sloth Bear: We Have To Save The Depleting Species Before It's Too Late

¡°Don¡¯t behave like an animal!¡± ¡ªHuman Beings

Flappy gait, shabby fur, grunts followed by the clanking of chains and the sound of a whip. The rattling dumroo meant it was time for the animals to perform tricks for the onlookers. As they dance to the beats of the dumroo, they wince every time their handlers pull at the rope that goes through the nose piercing. For hundreds of years, sloth bears were at the mercy of the Kalandar nomads. What started as a source of entertainment in the courts of the Mughal rulers later found a place in the streets, with unfortunate living conditions. Sloth bears, for sure, had an unfortunate brush with our kind. Native to the Indian subcontinent, the sloth bear is listed as Vulnerable on the IUCN Red List, mainly because of habitat loss and degradation.

Eight species of bear globally

Globally, there are eight species of bears: Polar bear in the Arctic region, the biggest carnivore on land; Black bear (American black bear) of Northern America and Canada; Grizzly bear (also known as Tibetan blue bear or brown bear) found in North America, Europe, Central Asia, high altitude areas of Ladakh and Uttarakhand; Andean bear (spectacled bear) of South America; Asiatic black bear of Eastern and Southern Asia; Panda in China; Sun bear of Southeast Asia (Northeast in India); and Sloth Bear of India, Nepal, Sri Lanka, and Bhutan.

Playful bears at Bondla Wildlife Sanctuary, Goa. | Photo: ?RAKESH DHARESHWAR

¡°Sher nahi, bhalu¡±

The first time I came across anything bear-related was back in 2015 at Kanha National Park. The mahua tree trunks had claw marks which my feline-obsessed brain assumed would be of a tiger¡¯s. My guide corrected ¡°sher nahi, bhalu¡±. He explained how both the local Gond tribe and bears share the fondness for mahua, often resulting in a less-than-pleasant outcome. I was well aware of the concept of human-wildlife conflict, but that was the first time I was hearing about man-bear interaction. The local Gond community that depended on the forest for non-forest timber produce like mahua flowers and tendu fruit often came face to face with sloth bears. The reason is, during the summer season, the locals would go to the forest at dusk or dawn to collect these items to avoid harsh heat. Unfortunately, sloth bears also preferred that time of the day to venture out for food. Summer, also being the bears¡¯ mating season, often made the bear aggressive, though they are not territorial by nature.

Bear attacks between 2001-2015

According to some reports, around 166 bear attacks happened in the region between 2001 and 2015. More often than not, these attacks would meet with unfortunate ends. Sometimes human, and sometimes bear. You must have also seen dancing bears with dumroos; some smoke cigarettes too, my guide added. I couldn¡¯t help but wonder how a fearsome and such aggressive wild animal found itself in a ¡®tamed¡¯ condition, tame enough to smoke a cigarette for a paying spectator. This led me down a rabbit hole.

Goes back 400 centuries

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The bear-human interaction goes back to over 400 centuries. The nomadic tribe¡ªthe Kalandars¡ªintroduced the dancing sloth bears in the courts of the Mughal emperors. The empire disappeared over time, but the bears continued to be ¡®tamed¡¯ and prepared for roadside shows. Male bears were castrated at a young age, teeth removed, claws filed down to nubs or worse¡ªdeclawed, often blind from malnutrition, and a nose ring with a leash attached to it. All these at the age of five to six months. One would have to kill the mother bear to get to the cubs.

Ban on dancing bears

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There was a ban on the practice of dancing bears back in 1972. But, it continued to exist in the absence of alternative sustainable sources of income for the Kalandar community for whom the practice of taming bears for entertainment purposes was the source of income and livelihood. Many animal welfare groups joined hands, which eventually resulted in the rehabilitation of these dancing bears, and also the concerned community.

Raju, the dancing bear

In 2009, the last dancing bear ¡®Raju¡¯ was rescued by Wildlife SOS, making him the final addition to the Bannerghatta Bear Rescue Centre. The rescue of the last dancing bear ended the inhumane practice and provided jobs and education to the Kalandar community. The year 2021 marks the 12th year of the end of the dancing bears.

A sloth bear in the wild, at Andhari Tadoba Tiger Reserve, Maharashtra. | Photo: ?RAKESH DHARESHWAR

If only race with humans for food and living in cruel captivity were the pressing problems for the sloth bears...

Also called the labiated bear, the sloth bear's lips are made to feed on termites and ants. Their diet consists of insects, honey, wild fruits, and berries. These unlikely ants and termite eaters are, therefore, keystone species. Webster defines keystone species as a species of plant or animal that produces a major impact (as by predation) on its ecosystem and is considered essential to maintaining optimum ecosystem function or structure. Having said that, protecting the species also means protecting the ecosystem.

Sloth bears crucial to environment

Sloth bears are pivotal to the health of the forest as they feed on termites and ants. And because of their diet, they have limited home ranges. Expansion of towns and cities, constructions that are happening closer and closer to the forest areas, all these human activities lead to habitat loss and fragmentation. Shrinking habitat leads to unnecessary conflict between people and bears.

Only 11,000 sloth bears left

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It is estimated that approximately 11,000 sloth bears are left in the wild, half of which are living outside the Protected Areas (the sloth bear is listed in Schedule I of the Indian Wildlife Protection Act, 1972). Having dedicated wildlife reserves for the bears and protecting the Protected Areas where they coexist with other protected animals have helped the species a lot in terms of species conservation. But is this an end to the problems for these bears? Sadly No.

Poaching menace

Outside of the Protected Areas, there¡¯s the menace of poaching. Most of the bear population is diminished from these unprotected areas because there is a strong demand for bear products such as claws, bile, genitals, and meat. A huge part of these trafficked products goes to the Chinese traditional medicine markets where some of these items, like the genitals, are considered aphrodisiacs. Bear bile is commonly used as an anti-inflammatory, and most recently, as a cure for critical COVID-19 cases. Be it a simple sore throat or epilepsy, or even a pandemic, bear bile seems to be the magic cure. It feels more like a placebo that has come at a tremendous price. Not even mentioning bear products used in witchcraft.

Challenges galore

The Forest Department, along with other law enforcement agencies, is constantly working towards keeping the wildlife safe from these illegal activities but is always met with challenges that are not necessarily criminal. Conservation, generally speaking, is not something that is done overnight or by one mega-agency. It is a process that requires the support of the Government, people, and scientific information about the concerned species. What is a keystone species? It is not something that gets discussed regularly.

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In more recent news, on November 11, 2020, the Union Ministry of Environment Forests and Climate Change notified the Eco-Sensitive Zone (ESZ) along with Mount Abu Wildlife Sanctuary in Rajasthan, and Jessore Sloth Bear Sanctuary in Gujarat. This was done to protect the sloth bear habitat (the region of Mount Abu and Jessore). Unfortunately, the ESZ had to watch its limits as already the area had construction work going on. When resorts and sanctuaries share the same space, more often than not, it is the wildlife that gets the brunt. The ESZ was supposed to be a safe zone for wild animals and something towards minimising human-wildlife interaction.

It takes only one unfortunate incident to change the narrative from human-wildlife interaction to human-wildlife conflict.

Though we have come a long way from the days of dancing bears, we still have a long way to go, not without the collective effort, to make things easier for other species. Conservation of nature and wildlife means conservation of the homo sapiens.