Pictures and facts about the Sloth bear

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Sloth bear

Order : Carnivora
Family : Ursidae
Subfamily : Ursinae
Species : Melursus ursinus

The Sloth bear (Melursus ursinus) has a shaggy, black pelage, long claws which they use for gathering termites/ants. At the chest area, we could see a Y-shaped mark, sometimes it is V-shaped. The Sloth Bear's nostrils could close, and they do this to protect themselves from the dust, or from the insects when they are turning a beehive into lunch. Another facet of this bear: they have a gap in the teeth to allow them to suck up termites or ants.

Sloth Bears, majority of them anyway, are in Sri Lanka and India, but some are living in parts of Nepal. Under the "World Conservation Union's Red List of Threatened Animals", these bears are now "vulnerable", and it could turn into "highly endangered" sooner than later.

A Sloth bear is capable of living in both wet and dry forests, but grasslands are also part of their preferred habitat.

Besides the ants and the termites, the Sloth bear could also go for figs, mangoes, ebony, and some variety of flowers, but the termites and the ants serve as the main constant food source. Other things they eat ar honeycombs, grubs and beetles.

These bears are nocturnal and is rather noisy. It snorts and grunts when it grabs at branches. It also uses its lips in a vacuum-like manner, and I mean a vacuum cleaner. Imagine the noise of an old-and-about-to-be-retired vacuum cleaner and you'll get the idea.

Interesting fact: In zoos, the bears can become up to forty years of age...

Picture of the sloth bear by Aaron Siirila, licensed under Creative Commons Attribution ShareAlike License v. 2.5

Facts about the sloth bear

Melursus ursinus is found throughout India, Sri Lanka, and further north into Bangladesh, Nepal, and Bhutan. (Full text)

The Sloth Bear (Melursus ursinus) is a nocturnal bear with shaggy fur which inhabits the lowland forests of India, Nepal, Bangladesh and Sri Lanka. (Full text)

The sloth bear is also used for entertainment, known in circuses as a "dancing bear". (Full text)

Native to the Indian sub-continent, sloth bears are fascinating, unusual bears that charm and delight those who visit them. (Full text)

Sloth bears are the only bears to carry young on their backs. (Full text)

Status: The sloth bear is listed as vulnerable on the World Conservation Union's (IUCN's) Red List of Threatened Animals. (Full text)

APPEARANCE The sloth bear is small and usually black, with a long shaggy coat, especially over the shoulders. (Full text)

HABITAT Sloth bears are found in forested areas and in grasslands, predominantly at lower elevations. (Full text)

Conservation Status: Sloth bears are listed as Appendix (Full text)

Description: The sloth bear is a medium size bear weighing (Full text)

Sloth bears are found in the forested areas and grasslands of India and Sri Lanka. (Full text)

The sloth bear is relatively small, with long hair and shaggy coat. (Full text)

Interesting Facts: Sloth Bears are not normally (Full text)

The sloth bear, Melursus ursinus, is a medium-sized bear of the forests of S India and Sri Lanka. (Full text)

The Sloth Bear is a nocturnal bear with shaggy fur which inhabits the lowland forests of India, Nepal, Bangladesh and Sri Lanka. (Full text)

Physical Appearance The sloth bear is a fairly small bear. (Full text)

The Sloth Bear (Melursus ursinus) is the only representative of the family Ursidae of the order Carnivora found in Sri Lanka. (Full text)

The sloth bear (melursus ursinus) is preferred because it is small, doesn't hibernate and is "myrmecophagous" - meaning it eats ants and termites - which gives it its long, attractive, quizzical-looking (Full text)

: this sloth bear is planning (Full text)

Sloth BearThe Sloth Bear is a nocturnal bear with shaggy fur which inhabits the lowland forests of India, Nepal, Bangladesh and Sri Lanka. (Full text)

Sloth bears are listed as threatened with extinction by CITES, The Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora. (Full text)

(Shaw, 1791) The Sloth Bear (Melursus ursinus) is a nocturnal bear with shaggy fur which inhabits the lowland forests of India, Nepal, Bangladesh and Sri Lanka. (Full text)

Compared to other bear species, Sloth Bears are rather small. (Full text)

Adult males of Sloth Bears are not so aggressive to the cubs and display no predatory instincts towards them. (Full text)

Young Sloth Bears are born in burrows and stay with their mother for 2-3 years until they are ready to go off on their own. (Full text)