There are at least three black bears in the province being kept illegally, and the Sindh Wildlife Department (SWD) has been searching for them. Earlier this week, the SWD managed to locate one of them.In a video released, villagers, traced to a remote in NausheroFeroze district, can be seen cheering on as a chained bear is forced to fend himself against a large white dog bent on attacking him. The cruel game – bear baiting – has been banned in the province since February 2015.”The bears are in the illegal possession of a local landlord,” said an SWD official.Although his department immediately initiated efforts after managing to locate the bear depicted in the heart wrenching video, the official added that it seems difficult to get possession of them. Bear baiting, as the name suggests, is a ‘game’ in which a bear is used as bait to rile up other animals, such as dogs. The practice, dating back to colonial time, can be observed frequently in rural areas of the country. Spectators cheer on as two helpless animals are forced to battle – in the video that surfaced earlier this week, the bear has a ring pierced through his nose, is bound by a tight rope and is aimlessly throwing its paws to keep fend off the dog’s attacks. A crowd stands by cheering on the animals and calling for more vicious attacks. The provincial wildlife department, meanwhile, has been on a mission to free all bears being kept in captivity and make Sindh a bear-free province. Sources within the department said that there only three bears, being illegally kept, left in the province. Since the ban was enforced in 2015, most bears were rescued from captivity and sent to the National Bear Rehabilitation Sanctuary in Chakwal district near the federal capital.”We have been in search of these bears for years,” confirmed a senior SWD official. “But it is not easy to recover them.” Due to limited resources, wildlife officials have approached law enforcement agencies, including the NausheroFeroze district police, to provide support for their staff to rescue the trapped bear. The department has thus far managed to identify the landlord in question – he is known among the locals as Bhutto Rajpar, and is famous for bear baiting. “Our teams are on it and will rescue the bears very soon,” said SWD Chief Conservator Javed Ahmed Mahar. But, he added, it would be very difficult to recover the animals without the support of the local police. In July this year the provincial assembly passed the Sindh Wildlife Protection, Preservation, Conservation and Management Act, repealing the weaker Sindh Wildlife Protection Ordinance 1972, and increased the ambit of protection for wild animals and birds in the province for the first time since.
