Rachel Perry BSc, BVM&S, MANZCVS, MRCVS
What did you do at work today? I treated sloth bear teeth in
India! It’s not every day that your hear that! I was invited by my veterinary
dentist colleague, Lisa Milella, to join her and a “human” dentist, Paul Cassar,
on their next trip to the Agra Bear Rescue Sanctuary in India. The sanctuary is
run by Wildlife SOS, and funded by International Animal Rescue and Free theBears.
Over the last ten years Lisa and Paul have visited to
inspect and treat the bears’ teeth within the sanctuary, and provide veterinary
dental education for the Wildlife SOS vets.
Of course I jumped at the chance to be involved in such an exciting
project!
What is a sloth bear?
The sloth bear (Melursus ursinus) is an insectivorous species of bear found
within the Indian subcontinent. They were originally classified as sloths due
to the length of their claws, which can grow to 7cm! They are stocky, with a
long shaggy black mane and a white ‘V’ shaped marking on the chest. They weigh between
60-150kg, and have a life expectancy of 20-25 years. They are omnivorous, and
love fruits and honey, but they consume a lot of termites and ants and are very
well adapted to these! Their sense of smell is tremendous, enabling them to
locate termite nests. They expose the nests with their long claws, and then
blow out the dirt and suck out the termites with their lips like a vacuum
cleaner nozzle. Sloth bears are classified as ‘vulnerable’ and protected under
CITES regulations. They are threatened
by habitat loss, and sometime hunted due to destruction of crops of aggressive
behaviour. They are also poached from the wild and sold into a number of cruel
industries: bear bile farming, bear dancing, bear paw soup and bear baiting.
What’s a dancing
bear?
Sloth bears have
also traditionally been used as dancing bears, the practice of which dates back
to the Mughal era. The Kalandar people have been historically associated with
dancing bears. Cubs would be bought or poached, and then “trained” to become
dancing bears to entertain people and earn money for their Kalendar master. To
make them safer and easier to handle, young cubs would have their teeth broken
with a hammer, and a rope or ring placed through the nose and muzzle with a hot
poker. This inevitably led to numerous painful problems with the mouth and
teeth. Broken teeth would be excruciatingly painful, and would quickly become
severely infected, with root abscesses. The bear’s natural defence mechanism
against the pain of the rope through his nose is to rear up on its hind legs
with its forearms outstretched, which was sold as ‘dancing’. The rope (attached
by a ring pierced through the soft muzzle of the bear) would often cut into the
eyes causing pain and blindness. Bears also became blind due to malnutrition.
This barbaric practice was outlawed in 1972 but there were still around 800
bears on the roads between Delhi, Agra and Jaipur in the late twentieth century.
International Animal Rescue has worked closely with Wildlife SOS in producing a
phenomenal sanctuary in Agra, housing nearly 300 bears. The charities have not
only rescued bears and given them the veterinary care they require, but helped
support the Kalandar people by educating and providing employment to ensure
that their livelihoods were safeguarded.
Lisa and Paul have
made several visits to the sanctuaries over the last ten years, donating valuable
dental equipment and instruments, as well as educating the Wildlife SOS vets in
how to detect and treat dental problems in the bears. The keepers have also
been trained to examine their bears’ mouths and detect any tell-tale signs of
infection or pain. Many bears have received vital dental treatment already, and
this trip’s mission was to re-check some bears that had already received
treatment, and treat new bears. It was a real honour and privilege to be able
to go out with Lisa and Paul to help International Animal Rescue and Wildlife
SOS provide the dental treatment the bears need.
Anesthetising the bears
A blow dart was
initially used to anesthetise the bears, which were then transferred into
the hospital via a stretcher. Once in the operating theatre, they had a
tube placed down the airway to allow delivery of oxygen and anaesthetic gases,
which is very similar to dogs and cats.We don’t normally have to blow-dart dogs
and cats though!
 |
| Transferring the sedated bear |
Once anaesthetised, the bear’s mouth and teeth were thoroughly examined, and dental radiographs taken. Again, very similar to what
I do when I examine dog and cat patients! The bears suffered from
different types of painful dental problems. Some of the bears’ teeth had been
damaged by their original owners for the purposes of dancing; the canines would
be broken off with hammers. Not only is this painful, but also allows infection
to enter the root and cause an abscess. Sometimes the teeth were pushed further
into the jaw, creating deformed teeth trapped within the bone. Teeth would also
wear down naturally due to the ‘sand-blasting’ effect of sucking up termites. |
| An extracted canine tooth and abscess |
Some larger teeth could be saved by performing a root canal
procedure. This is similar to the procedure performed in humans, dogs and cats.
The inside of the tooth is filed and disinfected before a sealer is placed
inside the tooth, and then a filling placed in the crown of the tooth. Silver
(amalgam) fillings were used in the bear’s teeth because this is a strong filling,
and unlikely to wear down. Other teeth could not be saved and required
extraction. This was not an easy procedure due to the size of bear teeth! A
surgical extraction technique was performed involving raising a flap of gum and
removing some of the bone overlying the tooth using special drills. Large,
bear-sized equipment was also needed!
The bears all made
very smooth recoveries from the anaesthetics, and their ages ranged from 1 ½ -
30 years old! The bears that have received dental treatment will all
undoubtedly be feeling much better. The sanctuary allows them to live
peaceful, safe lives in comfort. They have huge amounts of space to perform
their natural behaviours, have climbing frames to exercise, ponds to cool off in
and tree trunks hiding honey! They also receive care and love from their
keepers, and veterinary attention from the Wildlife SOS team. I was so
impressed with not the only the facilities, but the care provided to the bears.
The whole team (vets, keepers, security guards, the cook) is committed to
saving and helping their beloved Indian sloth bears. It is evident in the way
they talk, and carry out their daily work. Providing such immaculate care for
the bears is expensive. I have made a donation which will help the bears for a
short while, but to continue providing such exceptional care, the sanctuary
requires regular donations. Please consider making a one-off or regular
donation to help this incredible project. Every little really will make a big
difference.
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