One of the 8 bears on WAnimals
Mammals · Carnivora · Ursidae
Sloth Bear
Melursus ursinus
It faces a high risk of extinction in the wild over the medium term. See full glossary
It is the only bear specialised almost entirely in eating ants and termites, able to close its nostrils at will and use an extremely mobile snout as an effective suction tube.
Weight
55 kg – 140 kg
Size
1.5 m on average
Lifespan
20 years
Diet
Insectivore
Feeds mainly on insects and other invertebrates.
Activity
Nocturnal
Active mainly at night.
Social structure
Solitary
Lives and hunts alone, joining others only to breed.
Sighting difficulty
Moderate
Fun facts
- It vacuums termites and ants out of their nests, making a sound audible from a long way off.
- It eats termites and ants, supplemented with fruit and honey.
- It lives in dry and moist tropical forest, grassland and scrub of the Indian subcontinent.
Life cycle & biology
- Skeleton type
- Vertebrate - internal bony skeleton (mammal)
- Habitat & environment
- Dry and moist tropical forest, grassland and scrub of the Indian subcontinent
- Birth weight
- Born blind, hairless and utterly helpless
- Size at birth
- Born blind and hairless
- Sexual maturity
- 3 years
- Gestation / incubation
- ~7 months (210 days)
- Litter / clutch size
- 1 to 3 young per litter
- Lifespan in captivity
- Documented record of up to 33.3-40 years
Sources consulted: Britannica; UCSD Perinatal Discovery; AnAge (genomics.senescence.info); International Association for Bear Research and Management; PMC (habitat occupancy Chitwan study); Animal Diversity Web
Where to find it
See its range on the interactive mapWhere to watch it
Parques y spots de buceo donde se ha documentado esta especie — se muestran 10 de 20 documentados.
Related species
Other species in the catalogue with the most in common with Sloth Bear — same habitat, park, country, tags or family.
VulnerableSun Bear
Helarctos malayanus
VulnerableLeopard
Panthera pardus
VulnerableGreater One-horned Rhino
Rhinoceros unicornis
VulnerableClouded Leopard
Neofelis nebulosa
Fishing Cat
Prionailurus viverrinus
VulnerableSambar
Rusa unicolor
How to help
The sloth bear is classified as vulnerable. Organizations such as UICN, WWF y Wildlife Conservation Society work specifically on its conservation and that of its habitat; looking into their programs is a good starting point if you want to get involved.
It's documented in 10 real protected areas — part of why protecting these places matters for its conservation.
Keep exploring
Based on what we already know about sloth bear.
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