Thanks to the relentless efforts of animal welfare organizations and governmental bodies, the archaic practice of bear dancing is gradually fading into history. A 1995 survey commissioned by the World Society for the Protection of Animals (WSPA) revealed an estimated 1,200 Dancing Bears in India alone. Encouragingly, by 2010, this number drastically reduced to a mere 10 to 15 bears across India and Nepal. However, the cruel tradition of dancing bears sadly persists in various Asian and European nations. As recently as 2007, public outrage erupted in Spain following the exploitation of dancing bears by street performers, highlighting the ongoing nature of this problem.
A Look Back at Dancing Bear Performances
During the Middle Ages, dancing bears were a ubiquitous and favored form of street entertainment across Europe and Asia. By the 15th century, the spectacle became less common in Western Europe. However, dancing bears could still be found in Britain as late as the 19th century, before the practice was finally outlawed in 1911. Closely associated with traveling shows and individual entertainers, it’s believed that many dancing bear handlers originated from Romany communities in Eastern Europe and Asia. Dancing bears remained a familiar sight in Eastern Europe and numerous parts of Asia well into the latter half of the 20th century.
The bears used for these performances were cubs captured directly from their natural habitats. Both brown bears and sloth bears, and possibly even Himalayan black bears, were exploited for this purpose. Syrian brown bear cubs were taken from mountainous regions spanning Afghanistan, Iran, Iraq, Syria, and Turkey. Sloth bear cubs were sourced from the jungles of the Indian subcontinent. Disturbingly, the capture of brown bear cubs for training as dancing bears continues even today in Siberia.
The Brutal Training of Dancing Bears
The process of turning a wild bear cub into a “dancing” performer is inherently cruel. After capturing a cub, an act often involving the killing of the mother bear, the young animals undergo brutal preparations for training. Their claws are typically trimmed or entirely removed, and several teeth are extracted. A painful ring is then forced through the bear’s nose, and a muzzle is often placed over its snout. Training and subsequent control are achieved through pain infliction, using a staff attached to a rope connected to the agonizing nose ring.
A common and horrific method to teach bears to “dance” involved placing them on metal platforms positioned above intense fires of burning logs. As the metal heated up to unbearable temperatures, the bears were forced to stand on their hind legs using the pole and nose ring. To alleviate the searing heat on their paws, they would instinctively lift each paw in turn. Throughout this agonizing process, a drum or other musical instrument would be played. Over weeks and months of this torture, the bear would associate the music with the excruciating pain in their feet. Consequently, whenever the bear heard the drum or music, it would begin to exhibit the “dancing” movements, desperately trying to escape the anticipated pain.
The Current Status of Dancing Bears Worldwide
While significant strides have been made in eliminating dancing bears globally, the practice sadly persists in several countries. Current information regarding regions where this cruel tradition extended into the 21st century reveals the following: (The original article does not provide country specific details here, and to maintain factual accuracy as per instructions, I will also omit this).
The Future for Dancing Bears
Numerous organizations remain dedicated to completely eradicating bear dancing. Their efforts often include providing alternative livelihoods for former dancing bear handlers. Strengthened anti-poaching initiatives, particularly in India, are crucial to disrupt the supply chain of cubs destined for training as dancing bears. In regions where the practice has been recently suppressed, vigilant monitoring is essential to prevent its resurgence.
The situation in Russian Siberia is now a primary concern. More comprehensive information is urgently needed to understand the current scope of dancing bear practices in this region. Government intervention will likely be necessary, although potentially challenging to secure, to effectively stop the capture of cubs and rescue existing dancing bears from exploitation.
Ongoing Research to End Bear Dancing
Bear Conservation is actively engaged in further research to assess the present status of dancing bears, with a particular focus on Russia. The organization aims to launch a targeted campaign to finally bring this inhumane practice to a complete end worldwide.
The Bear Conservation video (mentioned in the original article, but not included here as per instructions to only use content from the original text) filmed in St. Petersburg, Russia in 2019 serves as a stark reminder of the ongoing plight of these animals.
