Footage shows a sloth bear braving the summer heat and gleefully playing with a ball in the southern Indian state of Karnataka after being seized from poachers.<br /><br />The incident took place at the Wildlife SOS Centre in Bannerghatta, Bangalore, on May 5.<br /><br />The video shows the sloth bear, Ron, sitting on its hind legs and playing with an enrichment ball, specially designed to stimulate olfactory, taste, tactile and visual senses.<br /><br />Approximately two years old, Ron was among the five sloth bears rescued in an anti-poaching operation near the Indo-Nepal border back in August 2019.<br /><br />It was a covert operation jointly conducted by the Forest Department and local Police authorities based on intelligence provided by Wildlife SOS anti-poaching unit ‘Forest Watch’.<br /><br />The bears were intercepted by the authorities while being for sale to other middlemen by the wildlife traffickers.<br /><br />Bear bile, gall bladders and other body parts are used in traditional Chinese medicine, thus making the sloth bear a vulnerable target.<br /><br />Ron is an outgoing bear who loves mock wrestling with other bears and is under treatment for the muzzle injuries due to piercing by poachers.<br /><br />The offenders often smashed the teeth of the bears with metal rods and mutilated the muzzles to insert a rope to train the bears for street performances.<br /><br />Sloth bears are listed as ‘vulnerable’ in the IUCN Red List and should be protected at all costs.
