She was taken to India three days back on the behest of the Indian Member of Parliament Menaka Gandhi.[break]
The legal documents and other related process to rescue this female adult bear was made possible only when Gandhi intervened and requested Nepal government for her early release.
All the earlier efforts to coordinate the rescue of this bear by Nepal´s conservation organizations had failed. However, the bear was released soon after Gandhi spoke with the director general of the Department of Forest in Kathmandu, who immediately sent a messenger with all the necessary permission.
Rubina was handed over to the Wildlife SOS team by the CNP officers on June 13 and she is now in Agra Bear Sanctuary, India. All the CITES documentation and transit permits too were put in place by the government after Gandhi personally requested Forest Minister Deepak Bohara for an immediate decision.
“This would not have been possible without the effort of Menaka Gandhi who went out of her way to help the bear,” Manoj Gautam of Roots and Shoots Nepal, which coordinated the initial rescue, said.
Animal Welfare Network Nepal (AWNN) too has thanked the Indian MP for her persistent follow-up with Nepal Government. “This bear would have been doomed for sure without Mrs Gandhi´s efforts,” Lucia de Vries of AWNN said.
Rubina was found in illegal possession of the two kalandars -- Ali Jaan alias Kalia and Nawab Ali -- in Harvastar village which lies in the buffer zone of CNP in Nawalparasi district. The two accused hail from India´s Shumshergunj area in Uttar Pradesh state.
The outdated practice of using sloth bear or dancing bear for entertainment purpose and as a source of earning continues unabated in India and Nepal with a lot of kalandars entering Nepal from India. One figure reveals that at least 179 sloth bears are entering Nepal from India annually.
Nepal´s National Parks and Wildlife Conservation Act, 1973, has banned possession of sloth bear, which is included in Appendix 1 of CITES (Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species) and falls under IUCN´s list of vulnerable animals.
Sloth bears are found only in the Indian sub-continent and a sub-species (Melursus ursinus inornatus) in Sri Lanka. They are often hunted in India for their gall bladders, which hold bear bile, a highly sought after mixture of acids used in traditional Chinese medicines. Thousands of bears are killed each year for this purpose.
Sloth bears are usually sought after as cubs. Their mothers are often killed. A red-hot iron rod is forced through the nose of a bear cub and a rope is passed through it so it can spend the rest of its life performing on the streets.
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