Baby Bear in Solitary Confinement is MIA while five more bears rescued from bear baiting

PETA (People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals)

Bailey was born at the Cherokee Bear Zoo, a notoriously cruel facility in North Carolina. When she was just a baby, she was torn away from her mother and put in a small cage, where she paced back and forth out of intense stress. In the wild, bear cubs stay with their mothers for two years. But now, Bailey has disappeared—likely sold or given away like so many bear cubs before her. She'll never see her mother again.

Thanks to your support, we have rescued five bears from the cruel sport of bear baiting. The bears are now living in the World Animal Protection-funded Balkasar sanctuary.

Two bears were surrendered by their owners in exchange for alternative livelihoods. The bears, named Nahla (meaning ‘drink of water’) and Sukhi (meaning ‘happy’), were joined by three bears we rescued earlier this month. With the help of local police, our local partners in Pakistan daringly raided an illegal bear baiting event from which three bears were rescued.

A swift enforcement action led to the event being halted before any brutality could occur. The bear owners, along with three of the event organizers, were arrested.

The three bears that were rescued are:

Pooh meaning ‘innocent’ who is a smaller ten year old who is unfortunately blind.

Alex meaning ‘defender’ who is a very large and feisty ten year old.

Diloo meaning ‘loved one’ who is a smaller eight year old.

At the moment, all five bears are in medical quarantine as they adjust living together. They will join the other 28 bears at the sanctuary, who were also freed by compassionate supporters like you.

Baited bears rarely live beyond the age of eight, which is less than half their life expectancy in the wild. They often endure immense pain even before they fight, with their canine teeth broken, muzzles painfully pierced with nose rings and claws often removed. In a single bear baiting event, both bears and dogs are typically made to fight more than once.

Since 1997 we have been working with local authorities in Pakistan to end bear baiting - a brutal and cruel sport in which bears are forced to battle against trained dogs. Learn more about our bear baiting workhere.

Also please consider giving a gift today to help with this vital work.