It is sad what is going on in this country now, telling us what we can do and not do where we can go and where not to go. It is time for the people to step up and say enough is enough, cause if we let this go on they will keep trying to take control of are lives from now on.

The governor thinks he can say what business can be open and what business must close. Who is he to say who can work and who can't? People are trying to work to feed there family's and he stops them. It is time to cut his pay off. People are out of work but still must pay taxes to pay him and many state workers to sit at home with full pay to make a few phone calls. Their pay should be cut back, too.You lose your job, your pay is cut. Teachers' jobs are cut and get paid the same staying home, not fair to tax payers. Do they think they are better then we are.

We are only to have so many people at a get together, but the protesters can have as many as the want. They want you to wear a face mask at all times. Is that really doing any good? How is your body going to build an immune system to something walking around with your face covered up? It will soon do more harm then good.

It is time for the people to use there freedom do what they want when they want. That is what many men and women in the service died for so we could have that freedom. Do not let them turn this country into a socialist country. God bless you all and keep fighting for are freedom.

Larry Blackson, USMC, Vietnam Vet

Link:

Don't let them take our freedom | Letters To The Editor - Uniontown Herald Standard

In a recent TV discussion, a respected pro-Palestine journalist declared that if any positive change or transformation ever occurs in the tragic Palestinian saga, it would not happen now, but that it would take a whole new generation to bring about such a paradigm shift.

As innocuous as the declaration may have seemed, it troubled me greatly.

I have heard this line over and over again, often reiterated by well-intentioned intellectuals, whose experiences in researching and writing on the so-called Palestinian-Israeli conflict may have driven some of them to pessimism, if not despair.

The hopelessness discourse is, perhaps, understandable if one is to examine the off-putting, tangible reality on the ground: the ever-entrenched Israeli occupation, the planned annexation of occupied Palestinian land in the West Bank, the shameful Arab normalization with Israel, the deafening silence of the international community and the futility of the quisling Palestinian leadership.

Subscribing to this logic is not only self-defeating, but ahistorical as well. Throughout history, every great achievement that brought about freedom and a measure of justice to any nation was realized despite seemingly insurmountable odds.

Indeed, who would have thought that the Algerian people were capable of defeating French colonialism when their tools of liberation were so rudimentary as compared with the awesome powers of the French military and its allies?

Israel: Our relations with Arab states do not depend on peace with Palestine

The same notion applies to many other modern historic experiences, from Vietnam to South Africa and from India to Cuba.

Palestine is not the exception.

However, the hopelessness discourse is not as innocent as it may seem. It is propelled by the persisting failure to appreciate the centrality of the Palestinian people or any other people, for that matter in their own history. Additionally, it assumes that the Palestinian people are, frankly, ineffectual.

Interestingly, when many nations were still grappling with the concept of national identity, the Palestinian people had already developed a refined sense of modern collective identity and national consciousness. General mass strikes and civil disobedience challenging British imperialism and Zionist settlements in Palestine began nearly a century ago, culminating in the six-month-long general strike of 1936.

Since then, popular resistance, which is linked to a defined sense of national identity, has been a staple in Palestinian history. It was a prominent feature of the First Intifada, the popular uprising of 1987.

The fact that the Palestinian homeland was lost, despite the heightened consciousness of the Palestinian masses at the time, is hardly indicative of the Palestinian peoples ability to affect political outcomes.

Time and again, Palestinians have rebelled and, with each rebellion, they forced all parties, including Israel and the United States, to reconsider and overhaul their strategies altogether.

A case in point was the First Intifada.

When, on December 8, 1987, thousands took to the streets of the Jabaliya Refugee Camp, the Gaza Strips most crowded and poorest camp, the timing and the location of their uprising was most fitting, rational and necessary. Earlier that day, an Israeli truck had run over a convoy of cars carrying Palestinian laborers, killing four young men. For Jabaliya, as with the rest of Palestine, it was the last straw.

Responding to the chants and pleas of the Jabaliya mourners, Gaza was, within days, the breeding ground for a real revolution that was self-propelled and unwavering. The chants of Palestinians in the Strip were answered in the West Bank, and echoed just as loudly in Palestinian towns, including those located in Israel.

The contagious energy was emblematic of children and young adults wanting to reclaim the identities of their ancestors, which had been horribly disfigured and divided among regions, countries and refugee camps.

The Intifada literally meaning the shake off sent a powerful message to Israel that the Palestinian people are alive, and are still capable of upsetting all of Israels colonial endeavors.The Intifada also confronted the failure of the Palestinian and Arab leaderships, as they persisted in their factional and self-seeking politics.

Fatah leader: Israel annexation plan a declaration of war

In fact, the Madrid Talks in 1991 between Palestinians and Israelis were meant as an Israeli- American political compromise, aimed at ending the Intifada in exchange for acknowledging the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) as a representative of the Palestinian people.

The Oslo Accords, signed by Yasser Arafat and Israel in 1993, squandered the gains of the Intifada and, ultimately, replaced the more democratically representative PLO with the corrupt Palestinian Authority.

But even then, the Palestinian people kept coming back, reclaiming, in their own way, their importance and centrality in the struggle. Gazas Great March of Return is but one of many such people-driven initiatives.

Palestines biggest challenge in the movement is not the failure of the people to register as a factor in the liberation of their own land, but their quisling leaderships inability to appreciate the immense potential of harnessing the energies of Palestinians everywhere to stage a focused and strategic, anti-colonial, liberation campaign.

This lack of vision dates back to the late 1970s, when the Palestinian leadership labored to engage politically with Washington and other Western capitals, culminating in the pervading sense that, without US political validation, Palestinians would always remain marginal and irrelevant.

The Palestinian leaderships calculations at the time proved disastrous. After decades of catering to Washingtons expectations and diktats, the Palestinian leadership, ultimately, returned empty-handed, as the current Donald Trump administrations Deal of the Century has finally proven.

I have recently spoken with two young Palestinian female activists: one is based in besieged Gaza and the other in the city of Seattle. Their forward-thinking discourse is, itself, a testament that the pessimism of some intellectuals does not define the thinking of this young Palestinian generation, and there would be no need to dismiss the collective efforts of this budding generation in anticipation of the rise of a better one.

Malak Shalabi, a Seattle-based law student, does not convey a message of despair, but that of action. Its really important for every Palestinian and every human rights activist to champion the Palestinian cause regardless of where they are, and it is important especially now, she told me.

There are currently waves of social movements here in the United States, around civil rights for Black people and other issues that are (becoming) pressing topics equality and justice in the mainstream. As Palestinians, its important that we (take the Palestinian cause) to the mainstream as well, she added.

There is a lot of work happening among Palestinian activists here in the United States, on the ground, at a social, economic, and political level, to make sure that the link between Black Lives Matter and Palestine happens, she added.

On her part, Wafaa Aludaini in Gaza spoke about her organizations 16th October Group relentless efforts to engage communities all over the world, to play their part in exposing Israeli war crimes in Gaza and ending the protracted siege on the impoverished Strip.

Palestinians and pro-Palestinian activists outside are important because they make our voices heard outside Palestine, as mainstream media does not report (the truth of) what is taking place here, she told me.

For these efforts to succeed, we all need to be united, she asserted, referring to the Palestinian people at home and in the diaspora, and the entire pro-Palestinian solidarity movement everywhere, as well.

The words of Malak and Wafaa are validated by the growing solidarity with Palestine in the BLM movement, as well as with numerous other justice movements the world over.

Another Palestinian political prisoner dies in Israeli prison due to deliberate medical negligence

On June 28, the UK chapter of the BLM tweeted that it proudly stands in solidarity with Palestinians and rejects Israels plans to annex large areas of the West Bank.

BLM went further, criticizing British politics for being gagged of the right to critique Zionism and Israels settler-colonial pursuits.

Repeating the claim that a whole new generation needs to replace the current one for any change to occur in Palestine is an insult although, at times, unintended to generations of Palestinians, whose struggle and sacrifices are present in every aspect of Palestinian lives.

Simply because the odds stacked against Palestinian freedom seem too great at the moment, does not justify the discounting of an entire nation, which has lived through many wars, protracted sieges and untold hardship. Moreover, the next generation is but a mere evolution of the consciousness of the current one. They cannot be delinked or analyzed separately.

In his Prison Notebooks, anti-fascist intellectual, Antonio Gramsci, coined the term pessimism of the intellect, optimism of the will.

While logical analysis of a situation may lead the intellect to despair, the potential for social and political revolutions and transformations must keep us all motivated to keep the struggle going, no matter the odds.

The views expressed in this article belong to the author and do not necessarily reflect the editorial policy of Middle East Monitor.

Read the original here:

'Optimism of the Will': Palestinian Freedom is Possible Now - Middle East Monitor

In May 2016, I fled a dangerous civil war in my native Iraq, leaving behind my friends and family in Mosul, my university appointment and my dental practice.

There was terror in my heart as I looked at my two young sons on the flight to Chicago. How would they adjust to a new culture when they didnt even speak English? Would I still be able to work as a dentist? Would people treat us differently because we are Muslim?

Four years later, my fears have been put to rest. My boys are thriving at school and speak perfect English. Im a dentist serving African American patients on the South Side. As a religious minority, I have always been shown respect here.

Today, as I study to be a citizen of the United States, I am thinking more about what it means to be an American, especially when my new country is experiencing such turmoil.

One of my favorite subjects in American history is the story of Abraham Lincoln and his belief that all people are created equal. I am proud to see so many people across the country marching to protest the murder of George Floyd and other Black men and women. I am honored that I will pledge allegiance to a nation that supports freedom of speech.

In Iraq, where I experienced dictatorship, injustice and fear for my familys basic physical safety, there was little respect for human life or different beliefs. There was no ability to protest the government or demand accountability from the police. If you dared to express your opinions, you could put yourself or your family in danger.

I am grateful to belong to a country where we are truly free. So many refugees share this experience of feeling welcomed and included. Its why we have devoted ourselves to serving others.

There are 161,000 refugees working in healthcare its our second most popular profession. More than 8% of us are physicians, 14% are registered nurses, and more than 11% are nursing assistants, according to New American Economy. More than 175,000 refugees also do important work in our countrys food supply chain, especially in Midwestern processing plants, where COVID-19 cases have been extremely high.

I have also been doing my part to keep my fellow Chicagoans healthy. Keeping my dental clinic open has given me the opportunity to contribute during such a critical time. Its an incredibly rewarding feeling to relieve someones suffering during this crisis, especially when a patient comes to the office after staying up all night long from an agonizing toothache.

I worked hard to be able to practice dentistry here. I had to take new exams and complete a new residency, even though I was in my middle 30s, and my colleagues were a decade younger. This determination is a common theme among my fellow refugees.

I understand that people are feeling especially critical of America right now. But I hope we can still celebrate whats best about Americans, whether we are taking care of sick patients, fighting for racial justice, helping neighbors with groceries or simply showing each other respect by wearing masks.

The longer I get to know my new home, the prouder I am to have the opportunity to call myself an American.

Raed Ayoub AlDelayme is a refugee from Iraq and a dentist practicing in Chicago.

Send letters to letters@suntimes.com.

Read the rest here:

What American freedom means to a refugee from Iraq at a time of protests and pandemic - Chicago Sun-Times

LGBTQ communities worldwide are mourning the death of 30-year-old Sarah Hegazi, a queer Egyptian activist who ended her life on June 14, 2020.

Hegazi, who had been jailed for promoting what the Egyptian state called sexual deviance after raising a rainbow flag during a concert in Cairo in 2017, was released on bail three months after her arrest.

Shortly afterwards, she she sought asylum in Canada. As the only queer woman among the 57 LGBTQ individuals arrested in the concert crackdown, Hegazi became prominent in queer activism circles in Egypt and beyond.

In Canada, Hegazi escaped the violence of the Egyptian state but not, as she wrote in a 2018 essay, the post-traumatic stress disorder, depression and loneliness caused by her past. Like many queer and trans people living in exile, Hegazi felt rejected by her own people yet mourned the home she left behind.

She yearned for the land that expelled her. In one Instagram post,from August 20, 2019, Hegazi wrote that she hoped her grandmother would be alive to greet her when she got home to Egypt.

That reunion would never happen.

A queer suicide during Pride, a month dedicated to celebrating LGBTQ lives and resistance, is a painful thing to process, made harder by the coronavirus lockdown. For queer and trans Muslims in isolation, separated from their chosen communities in what may or may not be accepting family homes, mourning Hegazis death has been a lonely, even secretive, process.

As a queer Muslim, I feel Hegazis death deeply. Back in 2012, I left my home country, Afghanistan, and later sought asylum in the U.S. Now, I live in the United States, but I dont truly belong anywhere.

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That alienation drives my academic research on how political violence and displacement intercede in the lives of LGBTQ Muslims. I recognize Hegazis suicide as the tragic result of the discrimination and repudiation people like us face our entire lives.

In her suicide note, Hegazi apologized for being too weak to resist the freedom of death.

To my siblings, I tried to make it, and I failed. To my friends, the experience is cruelforgive me, she wrote. To the world, you were cruel to a great extent, but I forgive.

The cruelty Hegazi experienced is echoed by many of the 36 LGBTQ Muslims I interviewed for my current research project on queer and trans Muslims living as refugees in the United States. Most said they had been rejected by friends and family because of their sexuality or gender identity. However, many also chose to forgive, as Hegazi did.

We continue to love the family that abandons us, said Hamza, a 24-year-old Afghan refugee I interviewed in 2017 in Fremont, California. We long for the home that pushes us into exile. We miss friends that wouldnt even attend our funerals.

This rejection stems from homophobia, which is rooted in both the interpretation of religious texts and in the anti-LGBTQ laws of some Southwest Asian and North African countries with colonial histories. As a result, some queer and trans Muslims and Arabs eventually try to escape the countries that criminalize their gender identity and sexual orientation.

While there are no statistics on how many LGBTQ Muslims are refugees, a 2019 United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees report says ever more LGBTQ people are fleeing persecution worldwide.

Queer Muslim refugees who make it to Western countries may find that rejection has followed them in a new form: Islamophobia. Meanwhile, in LGBTQ communities, being Muslim and queer is seen as paradoxical.

As a result, queer and trans Muslims in exile in the West become outsiders twice over.

I was called a terrorist by a group of white gays in a bar in Washington, D.C, Abdullah, a 30-year-old Iraqi-American, told me in 2017.

My interviews reveal that LBGTQ Muslim refugees are navigating two distinct and difficult spaces: the homophobia of their birthplaces and the Islamophobia in exile.

Queer Muslim exiles cross these borders on a daily basis, and its a complicated process. Their families are not merely a point of oppression, they tell me, nor is the queer community pure freedom. Rather, both environments pose certain constraints.

Freedom and violence are an unending dance.

For Sarah Hegazi, the violence did not end with death. Homophobic cruelty continues on social media, with some commentators telling people not to pray for Hegazi because being queer and committing suicide are both kabir, or major sins, in strict interpretations of Islamic law.

Hegazis own last post on social media was on June 12, two days before her death. Under a photo of her lying peacefully on her back in lush grass, smiling to a blue sky, Hegazi wrote on Instagram that, The sky is more beautiful than the earth. And I want the sky, not the earth.

I have heard versions of Hegazis pained laments before, in my own head. I have felt them in my own exiled body, lying in bed.

For queer and trans Muslims and Arabs, belonging is but a dream. Mostly we are just trying to survive.

Visit link:

Suicide of Egyptian activist Sarah Hegazi exposes the 'freedom and violence' of LGBTQ Muslims in exile - The Conversation US

Being labelled a tramp is not something the average person would be overly thrilled about. Unless, that is, they happened to be Czech. In the beer-drenched hub of central Europe, the word equates neither to homelessness nor harlotry, but to a nature-loving soul who tramps jovially through the countryside with his mates. I know this because I recently became one. I am now officially a tramp.

The notion of tramping or wandering as some prefer to call it may just sound like a regular hiking or camping trip. But I can assure you, its not. A romanticised hybrid of both pursuits, it is a far quirkier beast, with folk singing, and a generous helping of rum thrown in. The tradition dates back to the early 20th century, and is influenced by the Scout movement and the free-roaming cowboy novels of Bret Harte and Jack London. Stifled by the pomposity of the Austro-Hungarian Empire, many young Czechs idolised liberal America and saw the wild west as its free-range embodiment. As such, working-class youths keen to slip away from their conventional parents would head into the wild to explore, sing songs, then collapse wearily under the stars. More than a century later, the tradition lives on, and not just amongst men, but with women and kids too.

I have my induction to tramping in the highland forests of Brdy, a glorious tramp-filled haven, 60km south-west of Prague. I have been roped in by my mate Ondej, and when I meet him and his entourage brother Milan and two friends, Jii and Honza at Pragues main station, they form a khaki cloud of beards and backpacks with an old guitar dangling on a piece of string. Almost instantly, I get what being a tramp is about.

We take a train to the village of Zadn Teba, then change to a local one to get to our starting point in smaller Nesvaily. Now that the requirement to wear masks on all public transport has been dropped, travel within the Czech Republic is without restrictions. No sooner have we stepped off it, than the group are careering towards the forest, giddily chorusing their way through a repertoire of tramp folk. It is a somewhat surreal way of walking, but I find it impossible not to be swept up in the fun. We have a map but no fixed route, hoping to stumble upon a number of hard-to-find tramp dens dotted in the thickets.

After an hour of roaming south, we find the first. Called White River many of the dens have English names its a wooden hut-and-bench construction stocked with ketchup and a copy of western bestseller Belindas Ranch. Sitting down to swig from a communal bottle of Tuzemk, Czech rum, Jii tells me about the magic of tramping. When I was 10, my older friends would go into the forest and sleep under the stars. For me, it represented friendship, freedom and fun all in one.

Its a sentiment shared by the whole group, and certainly evident at our next tramp post, Golden Bottom (Zlat dno), a few hundred metres away. The legendary 1929-built camp, decorated with totem poles, was actually bulldozed a few years back but the outraged tramp community defiantly rebuilt it within a month. Its home to the symbolic grave of camp founder General Jerry Packard (Jaroslav Krsek), who died of hypothermia in Auschwitz after the Nazis doused him with cold water. It is a moving memorial and fittingly encapsulates the tramp spirit.

At 6pm, we set up camp in a cosy spot called Samot (Solitaire), and after grilling some delicious pekky (fat sausages cross-sliced at both ends), the night is given away to beer-drinking and the singing of raucous tramping songs. Most, I note, are harmless ditties about rivers or pretty girls with freckles, but some, by the likes of dissident Karel Kryl, have a distinctly subversive feel this was a key factor of trampings popularity during the communist era.

Tramps often disliked the regime and were harassed by the police and state security, Jan Pohunek, co-editor of Czech tramping magazine, Puchej, tells me later. Although the movement itself was not forbidden, tramps were often beaten, their equipment confiscated. Then, after the Prague Spring of 1968, tramp magazines were made illegal.

We go to sleep around midnight, three of us under a shelter, the other two lying more whimsically on just a camping mat under the trees. Its a brisk night for sure, but in the morning we are warmed by the campfire and a bowl of delicious homemade cabbage and potato soup.

On the last few kilometres of our ramble, the guitar comes out again and when we finally get to the Stbrn Lhota bus stop to head back to Prague, we find we have half an hour to spare. Luckily, theres a pub, Brdsk Kozlovna, right there, so we pop in for a pint. In the humble living room of the owners house is an unexpected tramp wonderland. The walls are cluttered with wild-west memorabilia rifles, Stetson hats, rodeo pictures and in the middle is a large table of cheerful old folks in tramping gear.

Taking some photos, I explain to them that this is my first tramping trip. Their faces ripple with enthusiasm and one of them reaches into his pocket to hand me a tiny pin-badge as a gift, explaining that its the emblem of their tramp platoon. On it are the words Brdy Liberation Army.

As we sup up before catching the bus, I try to find out what that means. Liberation from what? Communists? Or maybe capitalism?

No, chuckles the tramp with a big grin. It just means liberation from work. We are now all pensioners!

See the article here:

The joys of Czech tramping: Hiking with friendship, freedom and fun - The Guardian

Adiscussion on the vulnerability of Internet freedom at a time of national security risks. This comes in the backdrop of the governments decision to block 59 Chinese apps, something that followed the escalation of tensions at the border between the two countries.

Host: Sriram Srinivasan,Strategy & Digital Editor, The Hindu

Guests:Arghya Sengupta, Research Director at the Vidhi Centre for Legal Policy.

Raman Chima, Asia Policy Director and Senior International Counsel at Access Now.

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Write to us with comments and feedback at socmed4@thehindu.co.in

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With app bans, is Internet freedom being sacrificed for national security? | The Hindu Parley podcast - The Hindu

(Press Staff Photo by Makayla Grijalva)The community-organized freedom drive parades down Bullard Street on July 4, led by a vehicle occupied by Helen and Leif Nordell. The traditional town-sanctioned parade was canceled this year due to concerns about COVID-19.

Red, white and blue still painted Silver City streets and Old Glory flew from the beds of pickup trucks Saturday morning, despite Silver Citys officially sanctioned 2020 Fourth of July parade being canceled due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Nearly 40 vehicles gathered around Gough Park on July 4 for a community-organized freedom drive, caravanning down Hudson and Bullard streets. A few onlookers along downtown streets witnessed the festivities.

This is the Fourth of July. This is a time where were not Republican, not Democrat were Americans, said Andy Housley, one of the organizers of the drive. This is the first time in history that we would cancel a parade, and it broke my heart, to be honest with you.

All town property, including Gough Park, was closed to July Fourth events earlier last week to prevent large gatherings. On the morning of the drive, caution tape surrounded Gough Park, and police patrolled the area to enforce the rule.

Housley said that he saw the event as a form of protest to protect American freedoms.

The Constitution doesnt stop because of sickness. The Constitution doesnt stop because of a virus, Housley said. We have the right to assemble. We have the right to protest. We have the right to bring our grievances to the government.

Housley said that he began planning the freedom drive which he initially envisioned as a march when the town announced the cancellation of the annual in-person parade. Because of the COVID-19 pandemic, the group decided to turn the demonstration into a drive instead of a march.

Mask-wearing was not enforced at the event, and few participants were seen wearing masks while mingling prior to the drive. Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham announced last week that those not wearing masks in public spaces could be subject to $100 fines, and encouraged local police to enforce the mandate.

While the event was intended to be nonpartisan, some vehicles donned Trump 2020 campaign flags and other President Donald Trump-themed decorations.

Weve asked no politics, just American flags to support our country, Housley said, adding that he saw most participants following that rule.

One car had a cutout of Trump which they placed in the passenger window, and another convertible had a plush animal bearing the likeness of the president in the back seat between two American flags. However, most vehicles were decorated solely with American flags.

People are going to do their own thing, and thats part of the great thing about being American is that you have that option to do that, Housley said. If somebody wanted to come and put a [Joe] Biden flag. It would be all right. Its about America.

Two participants sporting Trump election merchandise were event organizer Helen Nordell and her husband, Leif Nordell. The couples car led the drive with signs expressing slogans such as God Bless America, and Make 4th of July Great Again.

Everything seems to be running away from us and being taken away from us, Helen said. If we dont stand up now, tomorrow is going to be too late.

Leif said he immigrated to the United States from Sweden, adding that it was a dream of his from the time he was a child to come to this country.

I want to live free, Leif said. I dont have any people to control my life. Thats why I left Sweden.

While the in-person parade was canceled by the town this year, the Silver City Grant County Chamber of Commerce-organized virtual parade can be viewed online on the Silver City Museum YouTube channel.

MAKAYLA GRIJALVA

Read the original:

Citizens hold 'freedom drive' in place of parade - Silver City Daily Press and Independent

New Delhi, Jul 12 (PTI) It has been two years since Rangila, the "dancing bear" was rescued from a group of wildlife traffickers who were attempting to smuggle him across the India-Nepal border.

Though, the sloth bear is celebrating his two years of freedom at the Agra Bear Rescue Facility, he continues to be under stress and trauma, says wildlife conservation NGO Wildlife SOS.

Sloth bears are species native to the Indian subcontinent and feed on fruits, antsand termites. They are listed as Vulnerable on the IUCN (International Union for Conservation of Nature) Red List, mainly because of habitat loss and degradation.

Several sloth bears are smuggled and trained to dance at a young age, but Rangila was lucky to have been seized by the enforcement authorities in Nepal. With cooperation from the Indian and Nepal governments, he was eventually transferred to the Agra Bear Rescue Facility in India, said the NGO.

Rangila''s case brought to light the declining trend of sloth bear population in India as they are trafficked for being used as dancing bears and other purposes, said wildlife experts on Sunday.

The sloth bear population in India depicts a declining trend. Despite continuous efforts, cross border trafficking of dancing bears and demand for body parts for use in traditional Chinese medicine, bear paw soup and bear bile still exists. Poaching, habitat fragmentation and human wildlife conflict is a very serious threat to the sloth bears, said Kartick Satyanarayan, CEO and co-founder of the India-based Wildlife SOS.

In December 2017, two sloth bears, 19-year-old Rangila and Sridevi, were trafficked out of India to be exploited as dancing bears in Nepal.

The Nepal enforcement authorities intercepted the traffickers at the border and the animals were shifted to the Kathmandu Zoo for temporary housing.

S Ilayaraja, Wildlife SOS deputy director, veterinary services said, Rangila was weak and undernourished when he first arrived at the centre. It took months of specialised care and treatment to restore his strength."

"However, Rangila still exhibits signs of psychological stress and trauma that will take much longer to heal, he said.

Although getting these bears off the streets was a victory, it wasn''t nearly enough as during this period, the female bear died.

After months of highly stressful calibration and international negotiation, Wildlife SOS, in collaboration with the Jane Goodall Institute, Nepal facilitated Rangila''s repatriation to India.

Today, 21-year-old Rangila is under lifelong care at the Agra Bear Rescue Facility which is run by Wildlife SOS in collaboration with Uttar Pradesh Forest Department, the NGO said.

Home to nearly 200 bears, it is the largest sloth bear rehabilitation centre in the world and is equipped with state-of-the-art facilities to carry specialised veterinary treatment as well as geriatric care for bears.

Geeta Seshamani, secretary and co-founder Wildlife SOS said, Rangila spends most of his time playing on the enrichment structures and it fills our hearts with absolute joy watching him simply be a bear again.

The experts from the NGO said that Rangila is fond of various enrichments that have been provided to keep him mentally and physically stimulated.

This is really the first time that he has been able to explore the outdoors without being led around on the end of a rope. Rangila enjoys playing with treat filled enrichment balls, honey laced logs and digging up mud pits to nap in, the NGO said.

However, sloth bears continue to be targeted by poachers for their body parts and to be traded as live animals for street performance, it said, adding that poachers take advantage of porous international borders to move wildlife contraband and live animals across and conceal themselves in remote areas. PTI AG RHL

Disclaimer :- This story has not been edited by Outlook staff and is auto-generated from news agency feeds. Source: PTI

Visit link:

Rangila, the ''dancing bear'' rescued from Nepal, celebrates two years of freedom - Outlook India

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