National Geographic Kids USA - September 2017

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left the bear bound to the tree.

After removing the chain from

the cub’s neck, vets from Wildlife

SOS examine him. The animal is

malnourished and exhausted. The

wound on the bear’s muzzle, which

was made by the poachers, is pain-

ful. So the rescuers immediately

give him soothing medication.

Then they place the cub in a trans-

port vehicle and drive nearly 12

hours to the Wildlife SOS Agra

Bear Rescue Facility in Agra, a

city in northern India. Once there,

a caretaker scoops up the weak cub and

carries him to his new home.

BEAR CARE

At the rescue center, staff clean the cub’s

wound so it doesn’t get infected. They also

provide him with antibiotics and pain med-

ication. After that they place the bear, now

named Elvis, in an enclosure so he can get

some rest. At first he cowers in the corner

when anyone approaches. “His bad experi-

ence has taken a severe toll on him,” says

Kartick Satyanarayan, a co-founder of

Wildlife SOS. But with some gentle coaxing,

a keeper gets the 13-pound cub to drink

some milk from a bottle.

Slowly Elvis starts to trust the keeper

who’s bottle-feeding him. And the bear

downs so much that he begins to pack on

some pounds. A few months later Elvis

starts to eat solid foods, including man-

goes, watermelons, and honey. His favorite

are eggs, which he always saves for last.

Keepers continue to give him medicine.

They hide the medicine in fruit or mix it

into his porridge.

When Elvis is a year old, he’s moved into

BY ALLYSON SHAW

a forested outdoor enclosure. No

energy, the bear scampers around

sniffs every corner of his new spa

also makes friends with the staff

who come by to say hello,” Satyan

says. But visitors have to watch th

feet—Elvis likes trying to pull off

shoes!

BIG BEAR

By about two years of

age, Elvis is 172 pounds.

He spends his days

learning to climb

trees, foraging for

yummy termites, and

munching on fruit that he

receives. Elvis was taken from his

before she could teach him sloth

vival skills, so he can’t return to t

But Elvis will have the next be

In a couple of years, the bear will

in a 160-acre, tree-filled enclosur

other sloth bears. Until then, Elvis

tinue to grow and play—and maybe he’ll

try to steal a few more shoes! “He’s grown

to be so lively and mischievous,”

Satyanarayan says.

“It’s amazing.”

© WILDLIFE SOS INDIA (ALL)

A

sloth bear cub whimpers

as he sits chained to a

tree in a remote village

near India’s Uttar Pradesh

Forest. The two-month-

old is weak, dehydrated,

and hungry. He also has a deep wound

across his snout. Poachers, who recently

snatched the bear from his jungle home

after killing his mother, stand next to

him. They plan to take the baby bear to

the nearby country of Nepal, where he’ll

be sold to people who’ll keep him at a

roadside attraction in poor conditions.

The sloth bear huddles against the tree,

his distress building.

HELP ARRIVES

As the poachers get ready to move the

cub, a conservation group called Wildlife

SOS learns of their plans. Wildlife SOS

teams up with the Uttar Pradesh Forest

and Wildlife Department and police to

raid the poachers’ hideout. They arrive

to find that the poachers have fled and

22 SEPTEMBER 2017

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