I don’t believe all Pakistanis support this practice. I’m fairly certain there are people in Pakistan who are working to end bear dancing.
This bear appears to be dancing.
It’s actually being strung up by a rope attached to a ring that has been driven through the septum of its nose.
It’s trained using negative reinforcement. Jerking on the rope causes pain, which the bear releases when it stands up and dances.
Although this appears to be cute, this makes me a little sick in my stomach.
This bear is a from a subspecies of brown bear, which is the same species as Bart the Bear.
These bears are very intelligent, and it is beneath them to expect them to “dance” while being strung up by the nose.
That bear is so cute and he really does keep time well. It’s such a shame that the training methods are so cruel. I’m sure should this bear finally exhaust its patience that it would simply be shot if it ever dared to escape or confront the “trainer.”
It’s very very cute when you think of it as dancing, when you think of it as torture appeasement behavior, it’s disgusting.
Wow, that makes me feel angry!
It’s moral relativism to not expose and criticize garbage like this, Pashtun boy slaves, and even the Saudis ban on female drivers. Though i am comforted by the news out of Israel today, only because puts a relative comp on the “us vs. them” relative value of life question. It’s about 1 to 1,027.
That part of the world is worth not one more American.
Aplogies in advance. I’ll confine my comments to working spaniels from here on out.
When I was growing up in Pakistan in the 70s and 80s, theree things that I intensely disliked were (1) bear dancing, (2) bear baiting and (3) dog fighting. The latter two were really obnoxious. All these 3 abhorable activities have now been confined to remoter areas and dog fighting has almost ceased to exist, except for covert rinks. I am really thankful to organizations and websites like the following, who I have interacted with till the recent past.
http://www.pbrc.edu.pk/rescuedbear.htm
http://www.wildlifeofpakistan.com/
The country has a national park devoted entirely to Brown Bears:
http://www.pakistanpaedia.com/parks/deosai/national_parks_of_pakistan-deosai.html
“The Deosai National Park was established in 1993 to protect the survival of the Himalayan Brown Bear, Pakistan’s largest omnivore, and its habitat. Having long been a prize kill for poachers and hunters, the bear now has a hope for survival in Deosai where its number has increased from only 19 in 1993 to 40 in 2005.
The Deosai Plains are also home to the Himalayan Ibex, Red Fox, Golden Marmot, Gray Wolf, the Ladakh Urial, the Snow Leopard, and over 124 resident and migratory birds. Birds in the park include the Golden Eagle, Lammergeier, Griffon Vulture, Laggar Falcon, Peregrine Falcon, Kestrel, Sparrowhawk and Snowcock.”
A list of national parks can be found here:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_national_parks_of_Pakistan
I am sure there is lot more work to do.
Wow… poor thing. I’m sick to my stomach as well.
Ignorance truly is bliss…