After months of waiting, Nepal’s last dancing bear is settling in at his new home at the Wildlife SOS Agra Bear Rescue Facility in India.
Late last year, rescuers from World Animal Protection, the Jane Goodall Institute Nepal and Wildlife SOS, in partnership with local police, saved the last two known dancing bears from where they were being mistreated and illegally used to entertain people.
The two sloth bears, Rangila, a 19-year-old male, and Sridevi, a 17-year-old female, had both clearly suffered as a result of years of torment. They both had their noses pierced with a hot rod and had ropes run through the holes to control them, and had their teeth damaged. They also showed stereotypical signs of stress, including cowering and pacing.
The two were supposed to be temporarily moved to Parsa National Park before being taken to a sanctuary, but they were instead inexplicably sent to a substandard zoo where they remained after their rescue.
Sridevi tragically passed away before ever knowing freedom, but rescuers didn’t give up on their efforts to save Rangila.
“…AANNDD WE ARE HOME! Rangila and his team of rescuers have safely arrived at the #AgraBearRescueFacility after completing a journey of over a thousand kilometers across international borders,” Wildlife SOS posted on its Facebook page yesterday. “We would like to take this moment to thank each and every person who made this rescue operation successful!”
“We are grateful to the Government authorities and the Director General of Forests of both India and Nepal, as well as the Jane Goodall Institute, Nepal for extending their cooperation and support to facilitate this repatriation effort, without which this would not have been possible,” Kartick Satyanarayan, Co-founder and CEO of Wildlife SOS, shared in a statement. “This is a unique effort and India is proud to bring their wild citizen home!”
Rangila now resides with other bears in a large forested enclosure with a pool and lots of trees to climb.
“The most important thing is that he will be able to display natural behavior like a sloth bear should,” said Geeta Seshamani, Co-founder and Secretary of Wildlife SOS.
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