Azamgarh, Uttar Pradesh: An eight month old sloth bear cub was seized last Monday from a kalandar (bear dancer) in Azamgarh District in the northern state of Uttar Pradesh by a team of forest officials.

Acting on a tip-off from the Wildlife Trust of India (WTI), the forest department raided the house of the kalander at night around 9 pm and found the cub under a bamboo shed.

The kalandar, Ishtiaque, was a resident of Bajbahadur village, Rusualpur in the Azamgarh District, a known kalandar settlement. He had brought the bear cub from the eastern Orissa state, at least a 1000 kilometers away, for bear dancing, which is banned in India.

The bear’s milk teeth had been knocked out and muzzle was pierced – a common practice among Kalandars who insert ropes through their muzzles to control them.

Noor was booked under various sections of the Wildlife (Protection) Act and was produced in the court yesterday and sent to judicial custody.

The magistrate ordered that the bear cub be sent to Lucknow zoo, where it will be kept as evidence related to the case.

Since 1998, bear dancing has been banned in India and in September 2005, the Chief Wildlife Warden of Uttar Pradesh had cancelled the licenses issued to Kalandars, between 1983 to 1986 and asked them to surrender the bears to forest department.

WTI and World Society for Protection of Animals (WSPA) have initiated a project to provide alternative livelihoods for the Kalandars and rehabilitate the rescued bears.

“Till today, 24 Kalandars families from Bilaspur and Bhopal have taken the alternative livelihood from this project” said Manali Baruah of WTI who is working with the project.