A sloth bear named ‘Dhutru’ was rescued from Lahan Municipality-13, Siraha district on October 21. It was captivated for entertainment purpose. Sneha’s Care an animal welfare organization rescued the bear in collaboration with District Forest Office and local police authority.

Under the permission of District Forest Office, the bear has been brought to Kathmandu on Wednesday. Then, it was handed to Central Zoo in Lalitpur for its temporary stay, before being relocated to wildlife SOS Bear sanctuary in India.

“It is costly to train a wild bear to let it free in its natural habitat, and its not good to captivate wild animals in a zoo , so we are in a process to translocate it to SOS Bear sanctuary of India where she can start a new life with other friends,” said Shrestha.

“When we inquired about the bear, the culprit said that he got Dhutru as a dowry and used her as a source of income,” Shrestha added. However, the culprit managed to escape. Around one year old female bear (Dhutru) is now under medication at Central Zoo. The bear’s snout was pierced and a rope was tied throughout her mouth to control her.

This is not the first rescue of wild bear, in December 2018, two sloth bears Rangeela and Sridevi were rescued from southern Nepal. The pair was transferred to a zoo, however Sridevi died after few weeks of being rescued and later Rangeela was send to Bear sanctuary in India. 

Sloth bear has been listed on vulnerable species by IUCN red list.
Photos: Laxmi Prasad Ngakhusi