After Abuse In A Peruvian Circus, A Bear Awaits A New Home
After Abuse In A Peruvian Circus, A Bear Awaits A New Home
March 27, 2015 5:07 PM ET
In Peru, a beleaguered bear is looking for a new home. And the former circus animal is getting high-profile help from Michael Bond, the British author of the well-loved children's books about Paddington bear. The tale of Cholita, an Andean spectacled bear like the fictional Paddington, is less the stuff of children's books and more of horror films.
While Cholita was in the circus, her trainer had her teeth smashed out and paws partially amputated to remove her claws and make her less dangerous. Because of all the trauma, she's also lost all her fur.
"It is such a horrendous story," Bond told The Daily Mail. "I very much hope that ... Cholita will get the care she needs to recover."
Jan Creamer, the head of Animal Defenders International, a group based in Britain, says Cholita was removed from the circus by Peruvian authorities about 10 years ago, but they have been unable to find her a permanent home.
"No zoo will take her because they regard her as ugly," Creamer said by phone from Colombia. "She is the sweetest bear. She is actually quite small. So she has probably been badly fed as a baby and she never really grew properly."
ADI has been working with authorities in Peru and other Latin American nations to stop wild animals from being used in circuses. Creamer has been participating in what is being billed as the largest ever rescue and enforcement operation of wild animals being used in circuses. Working with local authorities, dozens of animals have been seized.
Next month, ADI will be bringing some 33 former circus lions, monkeys and other species found in the raids to a sanctuary in Colorado and hopes Cholita will be on that flight. But it is still waiting for approval from the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. Cholita needs special authorization because she is an endangered species.
More:
http://www.npr.org/blogs/parallels/2015/03/27/395810942/after-abuse-in-a-peruvian-circus-a-bear-awaits-a-new-home
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Cholita, An Abused Bear In Peru, Gets A New Home In Colorado
March 30, 2015 3:59 PM ET
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Cholita, an Andean bear, was abused in a circus in Peru and is now in a small zoo. An animal rights group has now received permission to take Cholita to a wildlife sanctuary in Colorado, along with more than 30 former circus lions.
Courtesy of Animal Defenders International
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A badly abused Peruvian bear named Cholita is coming to a sanctuary in Colorado. Animal Defenders International announced that the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service expedited the request and she will be on her way next month.
As NPR reported last week, Cholita needed special approval because she is an endangered Andean bear, also known as a spectacled bear, the same kind as Paddington, the fictional bear from children's literature.
Cholita suffered extreme abuse while she was a circus bear. Her claws were removed leaving mangled paws, and her teeth were smashed out to stop her from harming any handlers. She also has lost almost all her hair.
She was removed from the circus about a decade ago and is currently at a small zoo in a remote part of northern Peru.
More:
http://www.npr.org/blogs/parallels/2015/03/30/396352251/cholita-an-abused-bear-in-peru-gets-a-new-home-in-colorado
