JOIN USAccording 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.
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.
The SOS had encouraged the Kalanders (who owned the dancing bears) to give up the trade by rehabilitating them.
Unhygienic conditions
Housed in unhygienic conditions, most bears suffering from diseases like tuberculosis, sources said.
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.
About 600 performing bears have been rescued and given a permanent home and lifetime care in Wildlife SOS rehabilitation centres throughout India.
The practice of dancing bears was made illegal in India when the Wildlife Protection Act of 1972 came into effect.