Sloth Bear

Unlike most bears, insects are the main food source of sloth bears. Termites are the primary diet, but will also eat ants, grubs, honey, sugarcane, fruit, eggs, and carrion. They are known to climb trees to get into bee hives to eat honeycomb or shake down fruit. Sloth bears turn over rocks and logs looking for insects and can dig as deep as 5 feet to feed on large underground insect colonies.

At the Zoo, sloth bears are offered mealworms, omnivore pellets, fruits, and vegetables.

Historical distribution included a large portion of India, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, and Bhutan. Current populations still inhabit most of the same countries, just generally more restricted and fragmented areas throughout those ranges. However, the populations once found in Bangladesh have been eliminated.

Sloth bears adapt well to many different habitats and can be found in wet or dry tropical forests, savannas, scrublands, and grasslands.

Sloth bears are typically only threatened by larger predators, such as tigers and leopards.

The current major threat to populations is habitat loss and degradation due to human population growth and development. Sloth bear habitats have been negatively impacted by the establishment of plantations and agricultural operations, the overharvesting of minerals and forest products, and expanding human settlements. As humans encroach on bear habitat, encounters between people and bears increase. This has resulted in greater human-wildlife conflict, which has resulted in persecution and targeted killing. They are also hunted for their body oil and other body parts used as talismans and in native medicine.

Historically, a nomadic tribe known as the Kalandars took sloth bears out of the wild to become “dancing” bears to entertain royalty, villagers, and tourists. Mother bears were killed so that poachers could take and sell their cubs into the brutal practice. Through underground trading, the cubs -- as many as 200 annually -- would end up in the hands of the practitioners. This practice lasted over 400 years, becoming illegal in India in 1972. However, catching sloth bears from the wild and forcing them to perform continued for decades, with the last dancing bears taken off the streets of India in 2009.

Sloth bears have a shaggy coat of dark fur, with long hair around the ears, shoulders, and neck. These bears have a long, pale snout and often a lighter patch of fur on their chests in a U-shape. As an adaptation for its specific diet, the bear has few hairs on its nose and can open and close its nostrils to keep insects from crawling or flying up the bear's nose while it eats. A large gap between the upper teeth makes the perfect space for sucking up insects with their lips and tongue. The sloth bear has a nose for sniffing out food, but it cannot see or hear as well as other bears. Large, thick 3-inch claws come in handy for ripping apart termite nests in soil, old logs, or trees in search of food.

Breeding season is May through July, but may vary depending on the region. After mating, females search for a cave or ground shelter to use as a den to give birth, usually to two cubs. Cubs are born hairless, blind, and dependent on mom's milk. The mother will remain in the cave with the cubs for the first 6 to 10 weeks, living mainly on her body reserves. Sloth bears are the only bears to carry young on their backs. Their long hair is easier for her cubs to grip while she looks for food. As they get larger, the cubs spend more time on the ground. They nurse for about a year and stay with their mother until they are 1½ to 2½ years old. The male does not help raise the cubs.

Sloth bears are not very vocal, but can make an impressive roar for defense. This bear is not very competitive over territories, although it has been known to leave markings on trees with its claws and teeth or feces at the base of trees. Tree markings are most common around the breeding season, however, and may have as much to do with mating as with claiming territories.

During the day, sloth bears sleep in caves or caverns to avoid the midday heat. They are likely solitary, except for mothers with cubs or during the breeding season. They do not hibernate, but some regions have brief periods of inactivity during the rainy season.