Sloths and greed

Until six years ago, most Kalandars plied their illegal entertainment business in tourist destinations like Mahabalipuram Tamil Nadu, Fatehpur Sikri Uttar Pradesh and Hampi Madhya Pradesh, but several of them are either giving up their trade or shifting to rural areas now that the police and NGOs are bearing down on them.

Poachers usually sell bears to traders who, in turn, sell them to Kalandars for Rs 4,000 to 6,000 per animal. Mehboob Kalandar, 20, a former bear trainer who now works at a bear rescue facility run by Wildlife SOS in Agra, explains how dancing bear routes are long and often nomadic. 8220;Initially, the trade thrived on the highways. Now, it has moved to small towns. My father was a bear trainer. I learnt the trade from him. From Hyderabad, he used to travel to adjoining places in Karnataka and Madhya Pradesh. I insisted on going with him,8221; he says.

While bear cubs are captured live for entertainment, adult bears are poached and killed for their body parts that are reportedly used in preparing traditional medicine. According to Mehboob, after a dancing bear dies, its hair is used for 8220;black magic8221;. Some Kalandars also sell the gall bladder and bile of bears after their death, fuelling a thriving illegal market.

In 2007, 27 cubs were seized from different parts of India and one bearskin and a dead animal was found. In 2008, three cubs were seized, one bearskin, one dead animal, and a half-kilogram of bear bile was found.

India remains the main illegal market for sloth bears. The business is so old and well established that different states have shaped the trade differently.

Most bears are poached in Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, Madhya Pradesh, Orissa and Maharashtra. 8220;At least 30-40 per cent of the live bear trade happens in the forests which have Naxalite presence,8221; says Kartick Satyanarayan, co-founder, Wildlife SOS, and Member, Advisory Board, Wildlife Crime Control Bureau. 8220;Traders and poachers often take advantage of forests that are not patrolled well,8221; he adds.

8220;If we had trouble with buyers for bear cubs, we would kill the cub to sell its parts. Another alternative was to supply gall bladders and bile of the aging dancing bears. Tribes like Khanjars specialise in going inside forests, killing mother bears and getting their cubs out. On an average, 10-15 cubs are taken out from Orissa8217;s forests regularly. We would buy the cub for Rs 700-800,8221; says Ashraf name changed a former bear trader who is now a registered informer with Wildlife SOS.

There is evidence of sloth bears being poached out of the country, to Nepal and Pakistan. Interestingly, Pakistan is suspected to have no natural ranging sloth bears left, but bears are used for a blood sport, where pit-bull terriers are launched at sloth bears. 8220;If the bear has to go to Pakistan, then it will go through Gujarat. Pakistan uses sloth bears for bear baiting and there is little evidence of bears remaining in Pakistan so we assume that the bears go from India and Nepal. Bears that end up to Nepal also find their way to Korea,8221; Satyanarayan says.

Dancing 8216;routines8217;

According to former bear trainer Mohammad Rizwan Kalandar, bears are often named after film stars and taught Bollywood-inspired routines

1 Imitate playing guitar 8216;like8217; Salman Khan

2 Tumble and roll on the ground

3 Dance like Shah Rukh

4 Do a 8216;namaskar8217; with paws joined together

5 Give 8216;aashirvaad8217; blessing by putting paws on a spectator8217;s head