Music producer, composer and conservationist Ricky Kej recently visited the Bear Rescue Center run by Wildlife SOS at the Bannerghatta National Park. The NGO has been instrumental in providing care for nearly 620 sloth bears rescued from the dancing bear trade; poaching, and human-bear conflict situations.
The Grammy Award winning musician says, “I am not a scientist. However, I will use my music as the medium to get across the message of conservation, based on scientific data. I have been creating music based on conservation and protecting the environment.”
Sloth bears are listed as ‘Vulnerable’ by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) and protected under the Wildlife Protection Act, 1972. In 2009, Wildlife SOS bought an end to the ‘dancing bear’ practise that inflicted terrible cruelty on thousands of highly endangered sloth bears and had taken the last dancing bears off the streets of India .
Kej met members of the group in the course of a music festival in Rantambore, Rajasthan. “ I was not aware of this group. I had heard about the efforts to rescue the dancing bears and rehabilitate them. Once I was back in Bengaluru, I decided to visit their centre. It was a great experience. I was blown away by the passion and dedication of the staffers. The rescued animals looked happy and well looked after. This is one of the largest rescue centre for sloth bears in the world.”
Unlike many other groups, Wildlife SOS looks after the human side of the animal-human conflict, says Ricky. “The group has been providing training in vocational skills and monetary benefits to the tribal communities, the Kalandars who have depended on the dancing bears for their livelihood. I felt that this was a positive step and will go a long way in making sure that these communities are not left to fend for themselves.”
Ricky adds, “I plan to visit their centres that cater to different animals such as leopards and elephants in different parts of the country.”
