After the arrival of Chitra, the 500th rescued bear at the Wildlife S.O.S rescue centre in Bannerghata in South India, eight new bears have now joined the Wildlife S.O.S “bear family†at Bannerghata in 2009.
The arrival of eight new rescued bears so swiftly in the new year has brought with it a reason to celebrate, uplifting the spirit of everyone at Wildlife S.O.S. and giving a new lease of life to the animals who can now forget the misery and pain of their past as dancing bears. These rescues are particularly uplifting as the kalandars had hidden them well in rural areas and they were not responding to our appeals to avail of rehabilitation packages and establish themselves in alternate modes of livelihood. It says much for the persistence and persuasiveness of the Rescue teams that they did not lose sight of the bears and at last the surrender was accomplished.
The eight new bears – Gokul, Rishi, Madan, Mani, Odom, Ghajini, Rajini and Yamini – are still in quarantine but they are already exhibiting interesting personalities. The keepers and the vet are all eagerly looking forward to their release into the open enclosures which is planned for February.
Kartick Satyanarayan of Wildlife S.O.S said “These 8 bears are the best gift for all of us at Wildlife S.O.S. The feeling behind the arrival of each one of these bears is something that cannot be bought. At the end of the day all of us have the satisfaction of a rewarding day’s work however hard it maybe. We hope to realize our aim of rescuing every dancing bear soon. 2009 have been a great start for us and we hope to continue the trend.”
