<p>According to a press release from the BBP, 16-year-old Dharma was ailing for a long time and died in the wee hours of Friday.<br /><br />The SOS unit is independently managing over 100 dancing bears rescued from various parts of the country housed at the unit here under the control of the BBP. <br /><br />The SOS had encouraged the Kalanders (who owned the dancing bears) to give up the trade by rehabilitating them.<br /><br />Unhygienic conditions<br /><br />Housed in unhygienic conditions, most bears suffering from diseases like tuberculosis, sources said.<br /><br />The Ministry of Environment and Forests, Government of India, the State forest departments, Delhi-based non-profit Wildlife SOS along with its US and UK arms, and various international groups together had initiated the project to put an end to a centuries-old tradition that inflicted terrible cruelty on thousands of highly endangered sloth bears.<br /><br />About 600 performing bears have been rescued and given a permanent home and lifetime care in Wildlife SOS rehabilitation centres throughout India. <br /><br />The practice of dancing bears was made illegal in India when the Wildlife Protection Act of 1972 came into effect.</p>
<p>According to a press release from the BBP, 16-year-old Dharma was ailing for a long time and died in the wee hours of Friday.<br /><br />The SOS unit is independently managing over 100 dancing bears rescued from various parts of the country housed at the unit here under the control of the BBP. <br /><br />The SOS had encouraged the Kalanders (who owned the dancing bears) to give up the trade by rehabilitating them.<br /><br />Unhygienic conditions<br /><br />Housed in unhygienic conditions, most bears suffering from diseases like tuberculosis, sources said.<br /><br />The Ministry of Environment and Forests, Government of India, the State forest departments, Delhi-based non-profit Wildlife SOS along with its US and UK arms, and various international groups together had initiated the project to put an end to a centuries-old tradition that inflicted terrible cruelty on thousands of highly endangered sloth bears.<br /><br />About 600 performing bears have been rescued and given a permanent home and lifetime care in Wildlife SOS rehabilitation centres throughout India. <br /><br />The practice of dancing bears was made illegal in India when the Wildlife Protection Act of 1972 came into effect.</p>
