akistan Allowing Cruel Bear Sport: Activists

[Guest guest]

Ahmad Naeem Khan

OneWorld South Asia

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/

 

 

 

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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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