Agony of the dancing bears
Snared by poachers. Beaten and forced to perform for tourists. Pop star’s plangent plea to end the...
KNEELING up on his back legs, his inquisitive brown eyes fixed longingly on a fruity snack, the adorable baby bear would melt the coldest of hearts. It is hard to guess that eight-month-old Ushka has had a truly terrifying start in life.
In fact, he was found earlier this year, on his own, high up in the mountains of Northern Greece, dragging himself along with his front paws, his hind legs paralysed, his back broken. He was only a couple of months old and severely underweight.
It is likely his horrific injuries were inflicted by poachers who killed his mother and sold his siblings into a miserable life in captivity as pets – or worse – as the dancing bears still prized across parts of the Balkans and further afield.
Bears trained to dance have their claws filed down or removed and teeth smashed out. A hole for a metal ring is burned through their noses and lips with a red-hot poker and a chain strung through the ring.
They are beaten and taught to ‘dance’ by being forced to stand on burning hot tiles. In countries where this terrible trade is illegal, bears still perform in circuses or sideshows.
It is astonishing that, although banned throughout most of Europe, this barbaric practice continues legally in the Eastern Balkans – Ushka was found near to the Albanian border, in western Macedonia.
Today, Ushka is in safe hands, but even so the cub’s crippling injuries mean that he faces an uncertain future, which is why his plight has captured the heart and spirit of Mollie King.
She may be better known as a singer in girl-group The Saturdays, but the 28-year-old animal lover has joined forces with the Born Free Foundation to help Ushka and other cubs orphaned in similar circumstances.
Today, The Mail On Sunday is launching an urgent appeal with Mollie and Born Free, not just to give Ushka some semblance of a normal life, but to help the hundreds of other bears kept in captivity in appalling conditions.
The Bear Me In Mind appeal aims to raise £50,000 to build a special enclosure for the little bear and a nursery for other cubs at Arcturos, a 50-acre woodland sanctuary near Florina in Greece. Like many people, Mollie was shocked that dancing bears are still being used.
‘It’s medieval, the way bears are treated – and in countries not so far from our own,’ she says. ‘I’ve been lucky enough to see these beautiful creatures roaming around the woods in Greece. So it’s heartbreaking to think of what they go through – in painful muzzles, forced to perform for paying tourists.
‘It’s not legal in Greece, but how can it still be legal anywhere? Most of the bears at the sanctuary have been dancing bears but others have been privately owned and mistreated.
‘The poor things have hardly any teeth, they have a pierced nose and have been made to dance on hot tiles. It’s disgusting, horrific and something we need to put a stop to.
‘How anyone can do that to an animal is beyond me. People need to know what’s going on, and hopefully I can bring this issue to a younger audience.’
Brown bears like Ushka also face the threat of being captured and farmed for their bile – a liquid stored in the gall bladder and used in many Chinese remedies.
The bears have their claws and teeth removed and are kept in a tiny cage. A catheter is inserted directly into their gall bladders from which their bile is extracted twice a day, every day.
Demand has led to increased poaching around the world, particularly Russia and America.
Last month, Mollie flew out with The Mail On Sunday to the Greek sanctuary. ‘I can’t even tell you how amazing it is to be face-to-face with an actual bear,’ she says. ‘It was mind-blowing, but seeing him was also heartbreaking. ‘I was led into a room with a crate in it. They opened the crate door and this adorable baby bear just sort of slid out. I burst into tears when I saw him. ‘The little thing is in this room, the size of a small kitchen, but it’s the only thing they can do at the moment because he’s having to drag his back legs. If he was outside on concrete or grass, he could cut himself and the wound could get infected.
‘It’s horrible to see anyone struggle like that, but because you can’t explain it to animals, I find it so upsetting.’
She found Ushka full of life, despite his injuries. ‘He just wanted to play with a towel and the toys he has,’ she says.
‘I hand-fed him grapes and apples. They told me to keep feeding him – you don’t want to be sitting
opposite him with an empty hand.’ Ushka has also had X-rays which will be analysed by top veterinary surgeons in Britain to see if there is anything that can be done to help him.
‘They’re not sure if he’ll be paralysed for ever,’ Mollie says. ‘They’re trying to restrict his movements so that he doesn’t damage himself even more.’
The sanctuary now faces a race against time to raise funds for an adapted outdoor compound for the bear. ‘Ushka’s a manageable size at the moment but he’s going to grow,’ Mollie explains.
‘He really needs to be in a compound outdoors that has a soft flooring so he can’t injure himself. He needs medical care, too. The amount of time and hard work it takes just to keep him going is phenomenal. The sanctuary’s workers are my heroes.’
The sanctuary is home to 14 adult brown bears, mostly rescued from the dancing trade, and two orphaned cubs, including Ushka.
Without this help, the sanctuary will be unable to accept any future cubs like Ushka and will be forced, instead, to turn them away.
Born Free is more usually associated with lions – the Foundation was created following the 1966 film of the same name staring Virginia McKenna and Bill Travers, which told the story of a lioness being returned to the wild – but the charity campaigns to end the confinement and exploitation of all wild animals for ‘entertainment’.
Part of the money raised in the Born Free appeal will also go to transporting three adorable female cubs from Georgia to the Greek sanctuary. All three babies were found following the devastating floods that hit the nation’s capital Tbilisi last June.
A wall of water, mud and debris devastated the city and its zoo, killing more than 20 people and half of the zoo’s animals.
The bears, thought to be wild rather than from the zoo, were found at just a couple of months old, starving and scavenging in rubbish piles. They were taken to a nearby stray dog shelter, where they remain in cramped and inap- propriate conditions. The Greek bear sanctuary hopes to be able to take in more orphaned cubs after the new compounds have been built.
The bears are fenced in – the sanctuary is open to the public – but, unlike in a zoo, the animals have many miles of woodland to roam in.
During her trip, Mollie was lucky enough to spot two adult bears in the undergrowth during a walk around the sanctuary. Both were former dancing bears.
‘Seeing them in an environment where they looked so relaxed after going through such torture was just amazing,’ Mollie says. ‘They are adorable, but they are big bears. When they first got to the sanctuary, they were intimidated by humans. Now, they are completely different bears, but it has taken years for the workers to build up a trust.’
The Surrey-born singer is dating supermodel David Gandy and has been linked to Prince Harry. Less is known about her grand passion for animals.
‘This was my first experience with Born Free but it wasn’t long
A bear is made to dance for tourists and, left, a rescued cub from the Tbilisi floods enough,’ Mollie says. ‘It’s hard to go on a trip like that, come home and go back to your normal life.
‘It does really affect you. Seeing these beautiful bears, who have been subjected to the most miserable life as dancing bears and in the circus, now free to roam in a natural environment was just an amazing experience.
‘Anyone with a heart would have fallen in love with them. I feel very lucky. Born Free are really trying to do everything they can for them. I know there are so many charities and foundations out there asking people to dig into their pockets. But if The Mail On Sunday’s readers can give any money to keep this sanctuary going, I’d be so grateful. Even the smallest amount is appreciated.’ To donate to the Born Free Bear Me In Mind Appeal call 0800 803 0480 or visit bornfree.org.uk. The Foundation is also selling handmade traditional teddy bears priced at £5.99+£2 p&p, with all proceeds going towards the appeal. See the website for more details.