The Hindu : Grin and bear it

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Friday, Mar 05, 2004

National

National

Grin and bear it

By Agnieszka Hindley

A bear fiddling with a safari vehicle's rearview mirror in the Bannerghatta Biological Park in Bangalore . - Photo: Sampath Kumar G.P.

BANGALORE, MARCH 4. In the bright sunshine of their typical scrubland habitat, two native Indian bears dance and frolic around a dried-up tree stump. They do this to the delight and amusement of an audience of tourists. The visitors are, of course, safely secluded against the bears' enquiring claws behind the wire grills of their safari van in the Bannerghatta Biological Park near here.

Before the bears were rescued and housed in the park, they used to dance to a different tune, lifting their legs only in fear of their keeper's sharp stick or a sharp tug on a chain pierced through their sensitive noses. Now they lead happier, pain-free lives in a semi-wild enclosure in the 743-hectare park.

Located 25 km from the city, Bannerghatta houses 26 rehabilitated street-performing bears. The project is part of the park's overall objective to rehabilitate abandoned or distressed wildlife. Bannerghatta shelters 101 lions and 33 tigers rescued from circuses in Uttaranchal and Madhya Pradesh. These can also be seen on safari tours. In 1999, the Central Government banned the use of tigers, bears and lions in circuses and so on.

Besides the bear safari, Bannerghatta is opening a herbivore safari, which tourists can view on organised treks, and an elephant safari where animals can be seen from atop an elephant. All these will be open to the public from Saturday, March 6.

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