The Bear Hug

A few days back, a photograph showing a chained bear hugging a child of the bear owner appeared in a leading newspaper with the caption “Bear Hug.” The picture immediately attracted my attention as the practice of using bears to fight with dogs and other unbecoming practices by the bear beaters to earn money is going on for years despite the efforts of the World Society for the Protection of Animals (WSPA) to protect these animals from suffering and barbaric treatment.

I immediately wrote to the newspaper editor, drawing their attention to their correspondent’s mindset that had shot the scene for amusement of others rather than projecting the harm and cruelty done to the animals. Obviously the letter was not printed in the newspaper.

Those who care for these poor animals may have read about the ravaging of the Kund Park Bear sanctuary in the Khyber Pakhtunkwa province during the last floods, in which of the 23 rescued bears from the bear beaters, only three could be rescued, while the 20 unlucky perished in the muddy waters of the floods. The sanctuary is so badly devastated that it would take a long time for its reestablishment. The surviving bears have now been accommodated in another sanctuary located at Balkasar.

It is time now that we say no to such feats and display of animals being used to earn money. The wild animals have to undergo a torturous training to tame their wildness and pacify their animal instincts so that these can be used and tortured again for their display in public. One of the most cruel things done to these bears is that they are tied to a pole and made to “fight” with the dogs who are lose. How can a chained bear fight with a loose dog? I am sure if the bear was also loose; he wouldn’t let the dog last long.

If you find a chained bear being used for earning money, please notify the nearest office of the World Society for the Protection of Animals, so that these could be rescued and placed in the sanctuaries for protection in environment close to their natural habitat.

Related Reading: Floods ravage the Kund Park Bear Sanctuary

The post originally published at: The Fire Within

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The Blind Indus Dolphins also threatened

A few days back I wrote about the Kund Park and the death of twenty bears due to the floods and survival of only three bears. A viewer of my blog has informed that two leopards, all deers and many species of pheasants along with the bears were also swept away. And as if that was the only damage to the preserved wild life.

Today I read that as the flood water is ravaging the Sind province, downstream Sukkur and Kotri barrages, the habitat of the rare Blind Indus Dolphins, the wildlife experts fear that their existence will also be seriously endangered. As the gates of all barrages are being opened and water is let into the link canals, there is a likelihood of these blind creatures being swept away into the canals and smaller distributaries and ultimately succumb to the floods as well.

Earlier in 1990s when Indus swelled in to high floods, many blind dolphins were found dead near the canal banks. If this happens, this will be a serious blow to the efforts of the Sind Wildlife Department, Indus Dolphin including Pakistan Wetlands Programme, United Nations Information Centre, World Wildlife Fund (WWF)-Pakistan, International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN), working in unison to save these helpless creatures.

Besides, the other wildlife like the Hog Deer will also be threatened that abound in the Katcha Forest lands. The Katcha area is badly hit by the floods this year. It will be much after that the water is receded that the actual extent of the damage will be known.

However there is a ray of hope, as opined by Dr Akbar, Director of WWF-Pakistan that since Indus is flowing towards the left the effect of the flood will be lesser on the right and dolphins would drift towards the right and even if they slip downstream, they can still swim back after the flood water recedes.

Well I wish and pray it to be so, but like all other nature and wildlife lovers, I am keeping my fingers crossed for the time being, hoping for the best and survival of this extremely extinct marine species.

Related Reading:

Flood threatens endangered blind Indus dolphins

Floods ravage Kund Park Bear Sanctuary

Blind Dolhins of the Indus

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