{"id":928480,"date":"2026-10-11T02:20:09","date_gmt":"2026-10-11T02:20:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/928480\/"},"modified":"2026-10-11T02:20:09","modified_gmt":"2026-10-11T02:20:09","slug":"sloth-bear-named-by-julia-roberts-is-flourishing-after-rescue-from-dancing-trade-in-india","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/928480\/","title":{"rendered":"Sloth Bear Named By Julia Roberts is Flourishing After Rescue From Dancing Trade in India"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>        <img fetchpriority=\"high\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-241949\" src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/10\/A-sloth-bear-named-Odum-by-Intl-Animal-Rescue-and-Wildlife-SOS-via-SWNS.jpeg\" alt=\"\" width=\"1400\" height=\"752\"\/>Sloth bear named Odum Credit: Intl Animal Rescue \/ Wildlife SOS \/ SWNS<\/p>\n<p>A sloth bear that made headlines when it was given a name by Julia Roberts after being saved from abuse is now flourishing, according to a rescue charity.<\/p>\n<p>The Hollywood star was filming Eat, Pray, Love in India in 2009 when the bear was rescued from people who forced it to dance for tourists and spend the rest of the time in a cage.<\/p>\n<p>She named the bear Odum \u2013 believed to be an old family name \u2013 after visiting the animal sanctuary 17 years ago.<\/p>\n<p>Ahead of World Sloth Bear Day on October 12, International Animal Rescue has released new pictures of Odum to show his transformation and demonstrate the long-term commitment involved in each rescue.<\/p>\n<p>Now, at age 26, he lives at the Bannerghatta Bear Rescue Centre in India, within the Wildlife SOS\u2019s rescue centre.<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-241948\" src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/10\/Odum-sloth-bear-Intl-Rescue-and-Wildlife-SOS-via-SWNS.jpeg\" alt=\"\" width=\"1000\" height=\"935\"\/>Intl Rescue \/ Wildlife SOS \/ SWNS<\/p>\n<p>GREAT CAT RECOVERY: <a title=\"The Tiger Returns to Kazakhstan in First-in-the-World Rewilding Project a Decade in the Making\" href=\"https:\/\/www.goodnewsnetwork.org\/the-tiger-returns-to-kazakhstan-in-first-in-the-world-rewilding-project-a-decade-in-the-making\/\" rel=\"bookmark nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">The Tiger Returns to Kazakhstan in First-in-the-World Rewilding Project a Decade in the Making<\/a><\/p>\n<p>\u201cSeventeen years on from his rescue, Odum\u2019s days are calm, perhaps eating a ripe muskmelon, taking a splash in his pool or having a doze in his hammock, which has been specially made for him,\u201d said the staff.<\/p>\n<p>Alan Knight, president of International Animal Rescue, says \u201cOdum\u2019s story illustrates the beautiful outcome that rescue operations can achieve.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cOur responsibility does not cease when an animal has reached safety. As he gets older, he will still require the same amount of patience, kindness and specialized care as was necessary to help him recover all those years ago.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>To help fund Odum\u2019s care, visit <a href=\"https:\/\/www.internationalanimalrescue.org\/odums-story\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener nofollow\">the Indian charity\u2019s website.<\/a><\/p>\n<p>SHARE THE UN-BEAR-ABLY ADORABLE SWEETIE With FriendsOn Social Media\u2026<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Sloth bear named Odum Credit: Intl Animal Rescue \/ Wildlife SOS \/ SWNS A sloth bear that made&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":928481,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[26],"tags":[2837,49,48,361,2769,1799,36527,66,323],"class_list":["post-928480","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-wildlife","tag-animals","tag-ca","tag-canada","tag-celebrities","tag-charity","tag-india","tag-rescue-stories","tag-science","tag-wildlife"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/928480","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=928480"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/928480\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/928481"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=928480"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=928480"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=928480"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}