World Animal Protection sent an email today to give the great news that the last two known dancing bears in Nepal have been rescued.

Sloth bears 19 year old Rangila and 17 year old Sridevi were extremely distressed when they were found.   They are now both recovering well in the temporary care of Parsa National Park in Nepal.  

WAP worked with the Jane Goodall Institute of Nepal and Nepali police to rescue the two sloth bears last December.   Their noses had been pierced with a burning hot rod by their owner, who had also shoved a rope through so he could control them.   

Bear dancing is very cruel animal abuse.  Cubs are trained by setting them on a hot sheet of metal while music plays.  The pads of their paws are constantly burned so they hop from one foot to another.   This is repeated until their response becomes automatic - they swap and hop when they hear the music.  So they are conditioned to do this by a terrible method of cruelty. 

WAP is also working to end the bear bile and bear baiting industries.  About 22,000 Asiatic black bears are stuck in tiny cages, with permanent holes in their stomach.  They are constantly milked for bile. 

Find out more about the work WAP does for bears here, and how you can help