Our hand-raised Slothbear Ramaa was a few months old but not yet in direct contact with the other adult bears. As she needed to explore relationships, practise new skills and find the outside world, we took her out for walks in the sanctuary. She was still a toddler and instinctively stayed close to the “Mother”, whoever it was at that moment. We could not put her on a leash but we needed to communicate with her by voice and intentions.
One day walking with her I suddenly perceived how our minds communicated. Both our consciousnesses were two vast fluid areas with different vibrations. In our effort to communicate and to understand each other we were both very strongly focussed on each other, reaching out! In my mind I suddenly experienced an “overlap” of both areas between us. (See attached drawing.) We could adjust to each other’s messages, “Where do you want to go”, “Find the ants to dig up”, “Don’t go too far away from me”, “Leave the monkey’s alone”, “Yes, you can climb that tree”.
During the next few months she became more independent and taking more risks (getting out of control). In the meantime she was already introduced to the adult bears and her awareness merged more and more with the “Sloth bear awareness”.
Within a year she had become a real Sloth bear, sharing her mind with her own kind.
We have been successful in raising her as a Sloth bear, although she is living in captivity.
