AR-News: Pakistan Allowing Cruel Bear Sport: Activists

[Animalara2003 at aol.com]

_Ahmad Naeem  Khan_ (mailto:ruth.david at oneworld.net) 
_OneWorld South Asia_ 
(http://southasia.oneworld.net/external/?url=http://www.oneworld.net/southasia/)   
06 July 2004

LAHORE, July 6 (OneWorld) - Animal activists in Pakistan  accuse authorities 
of encouraging a savage medieval sport in which  de-fanged and de-clawed 
Asiatic bears are tethered to a post and set upon  by ferocious pit bull terriers. 

A team of undercover investigators  funded by the international body, World 
Society for the Protection of  Animals (WSPA), discovered that instances of 
"bear baiting", as the sport  is known, increased from 10 in 2002 to over 20 in 
2003. 

Law  enforcement officials are accused of failing to follow up reports of the 
 torture of these endangered animals or implementing laws against bear  
baiting. 

The WSPA - an umbrella organization of about 450 wildlife  groups that 
operates in close to 120 countries - estimates there may be  less than 300 bears in 
the wild in Pakistan. Adult bears are often killed  so their cubs can be sold 
into captivity. 

"Our attempts to get the  authorities to take action have been met with 
indifference and sometimes  resulted in threats and intimidation," the WSPA's 
project manager in  Pakistan, Fakhar Abbas, charged last week. 

Abbas, who has  witnessed several illegal bear baiting events, says he has 
often been  threatened and attacked for opposing it. 

He complains, "We place  ourselves at great risk when exposing bear baiting 
events, only to see our  efforts sabotaged by tip-offs, bureaucratic barriers 
and even staged  confiscations after which the bears mysteriously disappear 
without a  trace." 

Bear baiting, widespread in Europe in medieval times, was  introduced to this 
region by the British during colonial rule. The sport  has been illegal in 
Pakistan for over 100 years but this is probably the  only country where bear 
baiting still takes place. 

When WSPA began  its probe in 1993, around 300 of the endangered bears and 
1,000 dogs were  involved in the savage events that cause dreadful injuries to 
all the  animals involved. Today, the number of fighting bears has reportedly  
reduced to around 50. 

Abbas charges that official involvement is  so widespread that earlier this 
year, the divisional wildlife officer in  the city of Hyderabad in Sindh 
province himself organized a bear-baiting  event. 

The problem with tackling the evil is that the organizers  of these contests 
are usually well-off rural landlords, who wield huge  power. Local gypsies, 
known as kalanders, rear the bears for the  landlords. 

WSPA says dozens of bear baiting contests take place  between November and 
April each year in rural areas. Three of Pakistan's  four provinces - Punjab in 
the east, Sindh in the south and the  southwestern province of Balochistan - 
witness these sports.  

Fuelled by chants from spectators, trained dogs set upon the bears  from the 
start of the fight, injuring themselves and the tethered bears.  The keepers 
of the animals usually separate them before they kill each  other for the bears 
are in too great demand to allow them to die each time  a fight takes place. 

The events often resemble carnivals,  attracting hundreds of spectators and 
giving the landlords a chance to  flaunt their wealth. Often, the very 
officials who are supposed to stop  such contests act as ushers for the landlords' 
guests, charges WSPA.  



full  story:
_http://southasia.oneworld.net/article/view/89369/1/_ 
(http://southasia.oneworld.net/article/view/89369/1/)  



~~~*+*~~~*+*~~~*+*~~~*+*~~~*+*~~~*+*~~~*+*~~~*+*~~~*+*~~~

I And I am my  brothers keeper,
And I will fight his fights;
And speak the words for  beast and bird
Till the world shall set things right.
- Ella Wheeler  Wilcox
/\  /\ 
>' .' <








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