Sloth Bear cubs are poached from their den when they are 3 - 5 weeks old. The are then kept in "gunny" sacks, cloth bags or cane baskets.Between the moment they are taken from their den to the point of sale there is a high mortality rate. Kalanders, a clan that has been training dancing bears traditionally for 300 - 400 years, will eventually purchase them.
The training process to teach a bear to dance starts with the nose
piercing of the cubs. A needle 6.5 inches in length, like the one to sew
a mattress, is heated in a fire and a group of men hold the squeeling
cub as the rope and needle is pulled through to the top of the cheek
and out through the mouth. A second nose piercing is done after another
four months, when the cub's snout is larger and the cartilage of the
upper palate is stronger to withstand a thicker rope.
The bears will
always paw at the rope and tear the inflamed area. In such cases the
Kalanders repeat the nose piercing at another site on the snout. It is
quite common to see severe scars on the snout of adult/juvenile bears.
Later fresh nose piercing will be done to ill-tempered bears so that
the renewal of pain will help keep them under control. The cubs' adult
canines appear between the 8th and 10th months and these are removed
without anaesthesia. An iron rod is hammered into the mouth with a
blunt wooden pestle and the teeth dislodged with force. Sometimes
pliers resembling kitchen tongs made of iron are used. Injuries to the
bears sensitive muzzle and long lips occur. The bears claws are kept
trimmed and the teeth sold as amulets.
Training the cubs becomes relatively easy for Kalanders after the cub's
nose is pierced, as the cub will do anything to avoid pain. To teach
the cub to stand and dance the trainer will twist the rope, simultaneously
pulling it up so that the squealing bear cub will pull itself up to
reduce the pressure on its nose. The bear is hit on its feet and it
automatically lifts to avoid the blow. Eventually the tapping of the stick
on the ground is enough to make it move one foot then another. Often it
will claw at its nose and this it will learn to do automatically when a
stick is waved before it. Blows from the stick teach it to shake its head,
lift its paws in the air, lie down and shake its hips. The stick and the
rope serve to show the cub pain and fear and by this it will learn quickly.
The average life for a bear in the wild is between 30 - 35 years. No dancing bear was found to be above 15 years of age, most of the bears were less than 10 years.
When questioned it was found that 90% of the rural audiences thought dancing the bear was not cruel, in the city 73% felt it was not cruel to dance the bear, but 27% felt the capture and training might be stressful.
FOREIGN TOURISTS:
40% thought the bear looked tired.
5% wanted it banned
55% felt it added COLOUR to the Indian life or it was picturesque or it
was an art form perhaps to be kept alive!