ABOUT THE SPEAKER
Kartick Satyanarayan - Wildlife conservationist
Kartick Satyanarayan works tirelessly to save India’s wild animals from illegal captivity and poaching -- most notably rescuing hundreds of “dancing” bears.

Why you should listen

Known by many in India as the “Bear Man,” Kartick Satyanaran is the co-founder of Wildlife SOS -- a non-profit wildlife conservation organization famous for its campaign to rescue every “dancing” bear in the country. For many years, “dancing” sloth bears were the only livelihood of the Kalandar community, but the practice involves extreme cruelty by modern standards, endangers the bear population and is illegal today. He began the organization with his aunt and fellow animal rights champion Geeta Seshamani in 1995, and since then they have rescued over 550 bears.

Satyanaran began rescuing animals as a child, with a particular tendency to rescue snakes. Although he majored in business management in college, he returned to his early love of animal as a field assistant tracking tigers for the Wildlife Conservation Society. Now, through Wildlife SOS, he runs rescue and rehabilitation centers for India’s sloth bears, elephants, leopards and more, as well as several conservation and forest watch projects.

More profile about the speaker
Kartick Satyanarayan | Speaker | TED.com
TEDIndia 2009

Kartick Satyanarayan: How we rescued the "dancing bears"

Filmed:
470,045 views

Traditionally, the Kalandar community of India has survived by capturing sloth bear cubs and training them to "dance" through extreme cruelty. Kartick Satyanarayan has been able to put an end to this centuries-old practice, and in so doing discovered a lesson of wider significance: make the practitioners part of the solution.
- Wildlife conservationist
Kartick Satyanarayan works tirelessly to save India’s wild animals from illegal captivity and poaching -- most notably rescuing hundreds of “dancing” bears. Full bio

Double-click the English transcript below to play the video.

00:17
Hi. For those of you who haven't seen dancing bears,
0
2000
3000
00:20
these are the dancing bears.
1
5000
2000
00:22
In 1995, we started working on a two-year investigative research project
2
7000
3000
00:25
to try and find out what was going on.
3
10000
3000
00:28
Because the sloth bears in the wild were obviously getting depleted
4
13000
2000
00:30
because of this.
5
15000
2000
00:32
This is the Qalandar community. They are a marginalized Islamic community
6
17000
4000
00:36
who live across India,
7
21000
2000
00:38
and have been in India since the 13th century.
8
23000
5000
00:43
We went about getting evidence of what was going on.
9
28000
3000
00:46
And this is footage from a hidden camera in a button.
10
31000
2000
00:48
And we went in, pretending to be buyers.
11
33000
2000
00:50
And we found this right in this very state, in Karnataka.
12
35000
3000
00:53
And the bear cubs were being harvested from across the country
13
38000
3000
00:56
and being sold and traded.
14
41000
2000
00:58
These were being sold for about 2,000 dollars each,
15
43000
2000
01:00
and they are used for bear paw soup,
16
45000
2000
01:02
and also being trained, later on,
17
47000
2000
01:04
to become dancing bears like the one you just saw.
18
49000
4000
01:08
Sadly, the family of Qalandars depended on this bear.
19
53000
4000
01:12
The couple are barely 18 years old.
20
57000
3000
01:15
They already have four children beside them. You can see them.
21
60000
3000
01:18
And the economy of the family and their livelihood depended on those animals.
22
63000
3000
01:21
So, we had to deal with it in a very practical and sustainable manner.
23
66000
3000
01:24
Now, when we started working deeper and digging deeper,
24
69000
3000
01:27
we found that it's an illegal act.
25
72000
2000
01:29
These guys could go to jail for up to seven years
26
74000
3000
01:32
if they were caught by authorities.
27
77000
2000
01:34
And what they were doing to the bears was really appalling.
28
79000
2000
01:36
It was unacceptable.
29
81000
3000
01:39
The mother bears are usually killed.
30
84000
2000
01:41
The cubs, which are taken, are separated.
31
86000
3000
01:44
Their teeth are basically bashed out with a metal rod.
32
89000
3000
01:47
And they use a red hot iron needle to make a hole through the muzzle.
33
92000
4000
01:51
Now we had to start changing these people and converting them from using that
34
96000
4000
01:55
for a livelihood, to getting something else.
35
100000
2000
01:57
So, this is Bitu Qalandar, who was our first experiment.
36
102000
3000
02:00
And we were so unsure that this would work.
37
105000
2000
02:02
We weren't sure at all. And we managed to convince him.
38
107000
3000
02:05
And we said, "Okay, here is some seed fund.
39
110000
2000
02:07
Let's see if you can get something else." And we got the bear surrendered
40
112000
2000
02:09
to -- we set up a sanctuary. We have four sanctuaries in India.
41
114000
3000
02:12
And now he sells cool drinks, he's by the highway.
42
117000
3000
02:15
He has a telephone booth.
43
120000
3000
02:18
And then it started, there was no turning back after that.
44
123000
2000
02:20
This is Sadua who came and surrendered his bear.
45
125000
2000
02:22
And now he runs a cattle fodder store and a grain store
46
127000
4000
02:26
near Agra.
47
131000
2000
02:28
Then there was no looking back at all for us.
48
133000
2000
02:30
We gave cycle rickshaws.
49
135000
2000
02:32
We set up carpet-weaving units,
50
137000
2000
02:34
vocational training for the women.
51
139000
2000
02:36
The women were just not allowed to come out of the community
52
141000
2000
02:38
and work with mainstream society. So, we were able to address that.
53
143000
3000
02:41
Education. The kids never went to school.
54
146000
3000
02:44
They only had Islamic education, very little of it.
55
149000
2000
02:46
And they were never allowed to go to school
56
151000
2000
02:48
because they were an extra earning hand at home. So we managed to get education.
57
153000
3000
02:51
So, we sponsor 600 children education programs today.
58
156000
4000
02:55
We were able to ensure brighter futures for these people.
59
160000
2000
02:57
Of course we also had to get the bears in.
60
162000
3000
03:00
This is what happens to the bears when they come in.
61
165000
2000
03:02
And this is what we turn them into.
62
167000
2000
03:04
We have a veterinary facility in our rescue centers.
63
169000
3000
03:07
So, basically in 2002 there were
64
172000
2000
03:09
1,200 dancing bears.
65
174000
2000
03:11
We rescued over 550 dancing bears.
66
176000
3000
03:14
We've been able to ensure better futures for the people and the bears.
67
179000
3000
03:17
The big news that I want to announce today
68
182000
2000
03:19
is that next month we will be bringing in
69
184000
3000
03:22
the very last bear of India,
70
187000
3000
03:25
into our rescue center.
71
190000
2000
03:27
(Applause)
72
192000
4000
03:31
And India will no longer have to witness this cruel barbaric practice
73
196000
4000
03:35
which has been here for centuries.
74
200000
2000
03:37
And the people can hold their heads up high.
75
202000
2000
03:39
And the Qalandar people will rise above all this cruel barbaric past
76
204000
3000
03:42
that they've lived all their lives.
77
207000
2000
03:44
And the beautiful bears can of course live in the wild again.
78
209000
3000
03:47
And there will be no more removing of these bears.
79
212000
3000
03:50
And the children, both humans and bear cubs
80
215000
3000
03:53
can live peacefully. Thank you.
81
218000
2000
03:55
(Applause)
82
220000
1000

▲Back to top

ABOUT THE SPEAKER
Kartick Satyanarayan - Wildlife conservationist
Kartick Satyanarayan works tirelessly to save India’s wild animals from illegal captivity and poaching -- most notably rescuing hundreds of “dancing” bears.

Why you should listen

Known by many in India as the “Bear Man,” Kartick Satyanaran is the co-founder of Wildlife SOS -- a non-profit wildlife conservation organization famous for its campaign to rescue every “dancing” bear in the country. For many years, “dancing” sloth bears were the only livelihood of the Kalandar community, but the practice involves extreme cruelty by modern standards, endangers the bear population and is illegal today. He began the organization with his aunt and fellow animal rights champion Geeta Seshamani in 1995, and since then they have rescued over 550 bears.

Satyanaran began rescuing animals as a child, with a particular tendency to rescue snakes. Although he majored in business management in college, he returned to his early love of animal as a field assistant tracking tigers for the Wildlife Conservation Society. Now, through Wildlife SOS, he runs rescue and rehabilitation centers for India’s sloth bears, elephants, leopards and more, as well as several conservation and forest watch projects.

More profile about the speaker
Kartick Satyanarayan | Speaker | TED.com