Sloth Bear

Facts about Sloth Bear, "Scientific name for Sloth Bear is Melursus ursinus". The Sloth Bear is a night-time insectivorous variety of bear that belongs to the Melursus genus of the Ursidae family. Its binomial name is Melursus ursinus and it is also called the Labiated Bear or the Stickney Bear. The Sloth Bear have evolved from inherited brown bears during the Pleistocene Period and they share features that are found in insect-eating animals through the convergent development. The Sloth Bear can be largely found in the forests of the Indian Subcontinent. Historically, humans condensed their home considerably and diminished the population of these bears by killing them for food and products, like their claws and bacula, which is a bone in the penis of male bears. These bears have been employed as performing pets, owing to their tamely character.

Features about Sloth Bear

The Sloth Bear is an average-sized animal, such that male bears are heavier than the females, with the body weight, ranging from 176 lbs to 423 lbs (80 kg to 192 kg), whereas the female Sloth Bear have the body weight between 121 lbs and 273 lbs (55 kg and 124 kg). The Sloth Bear are capable of attaining a height between 2 feet to 3 feet (60 cm and 90 cm) at the shoulder, and the Sloth Bear have a body length between 4.6 feet and 6.3 feet (1.4 m and 1.9 m). Usually, female Sloth Bear are shorter than the males, and they boast more fur between their shoulders.

The Sloth Bear has lankier builds, elongated, hairy coats that structure a mane around its face. Its paler claws are long, and they assume the shape of a sickle, and it has a specially modified lower lip and palate, employed for sucking insects. The Sloth Bear usually breed during the spring season and during the early summer season, and the female Sloth Bear will offer birth to young ones at the beginning of the winter season.

The muzzles of the Sloth Bear are thick and elongated, with a bulbous snout with broad nostrils and small jaws. The Sloth Bear have elongated lower lips, which can be extended over the external edge of their nose, and lack upper teeth, thus enabling them to suck up huge amounts of insects. Their premolars and molars of this bear are smaller when compared to other bears because they do not gnaw many plants. In adult Sloth Bear, the teeth are generally in poor condition, owing to the quantity of soil they suck up and gnaw while feeding on insects.

Diet of Sloth Bear

The Sloth Bear mostly feed on honeybee colonies, termites, and fruits.

Behavior of Sloth Bear

Sometimes, Sloth bears attack humans who intrude in their territories. Adult Sloth Bears may move in pairs, with the male bears being mild with cubs. The Sloth Bears may brawl for food and they walk in a sluggish, awkward motion, with their feet being set aside in a loud, flapping movement. They are competent to gallop more rapidly than running humans. Even though the Sloth Bears appear sluggish and awkward, they are outstanding climbers, including their cubs. The Sloth Bear climb to rest and feed, though not to flee from their enemies, as they wish to stand their ground.

The average lifespan of the Sloth Bear is 20 years in the wild, whereas in the captive, they can live up to 40 years.