Documenting the Performing Bears in France
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The Tracks team (with help from whistleblowers) investigated the housing conditions for three performing bears in France in September. What they witnessed shocked them to the core.
In the rat-infested dungeons where they lived, one bear, Micha, was barely alive. His maggot-infested paws were badly infected. His cough was an asthmatic death rattle. Luckily we got there before it was too late. Due to the surrounding furore from people seeing our investigative footage, Micha was released just weeks later to an animal sanctuary to spend his last days away from the dungeon he was kept in. Sadly in died in November 2019.
The two remaining bears, Glashy and Bony were finally freed in late November and sent to a sanctuary.
Without Track’s securing the emotive footage of the bears, the resulting media storm about the fate of the bears would not have occurred and the bears would have stayed in their rat-infested dungeons. Hail the power of investigations!
Tracks Investigations has undertaken over 295 investigative film projects supporting over 40 conservation, environmental and animal protection NGOs since its inception in 2006. Learn more about how you can work with us here. To support our investigative work for animals, click here.