The highest degree of love is to let. 

To do what you can and then let go. 

That’s what Dr Arun A Sha learnt during the 23 years that he’s worked with sloth bears: rescuing them, surgically treating their wounds, and helping them recuperate. Having joined Wildlife SOS in 2003, right after his master’s degree in wildlife medicine from TANUVAS (Tamil Nadu Veterinary and Animal Sciences University, Chennai), Dr Arun has contributed to — and pioneered — the project directed towards ending the exploitation of sloth bears. 

As I speak to him, I have to constantly remind myself that it’s an animal that is the subject of this conversation. The fondness with which he speaks about them could easily let you think he’s talking about a dear friend. But then, as he reminds me, that’s just what these bears have been to him. 

It’s tough not to let emotions get in the way as Dr Arun goes on to detail why protecting the ‘vulnerable’ Melursus ursinus is so crucial. 

The dancing bears of India 

As I research for this piece, I go down a rabbit hole of articles and videos that talk about the sloth bear. I’m intrigued by the moniker that’s used for them — ‘dancing bears’. But why, I wonder. In my search for the answer, I stumble upon a video that shows a man teasing the animal by pulling a rope that goes through the bear’s nose. When the cubs are young, a red-hot poker is driven through their muzzle to create a piercing through which the rope is later strung. 

Pain dictates the dance, as the bear makes rhythmic movements to try to escape this fate.  

This inhumane practice goes back 400 years. The Kalandar tribe would entertain the emperors with the bears; over the centuries, it transformed into cheap roadside entertainment. Poaching compounded the problem. Poachers would kill the mother bears so they could sell the cubs to the tribe. This, despite the bears being listed under Schedule I of the Indian Wildlife (Protection) Act, 1972, which grants them protection against poaching, hunting, and trade. 

As Dr Arun’s interactions with the tribe revealed, they did not know better. “Their grandfathers and forefathers had also been doing this; most of them had never studied, and this was the only profession they knew.” 

As of 1996, research........

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