The sloth bear (Ursus ursinus =Melursus ursinus), also known as the labiated bear,
Local names
Kannada and '
Sloth bear muzzles are thick and long, with small jaws and bulbous snouts with wide nostrils. They have long lower lips which can be stretched over the outer edge of the nose, and lack upper incisors, thus allowing them to suck up large numbers of insects. The premolars and molars are smaller than in other bears, as they do not chew as much vegetation. In adults, the teeth are usually in poor condition, due to the amount of dirt they suck up and chew when feeding on insects. This feature, which is also present in Asian black bears and
sun bears, is thought to serve as a threat display, as all three species are
sympatric with
tigers. They are 60–90 cm (2–3 ft) high at the shoulder, and have a body length of 1.4-1.9 m (4.6-6.3 ft). Females are smaller than males, and have more fur between the shoulders.
Behaviour
n sloth bear on a tree]]
Adult sloth bears may travel in pairs, with the males being gentle with cubs. They may fight for food. They walk in a slow, shambling motion, with their feet being set down in a noisy, flapping motion. They are capable of galloping faster than running humans. Although they appear slow and clumsy, sloth bears are excellent climbers. They climb to feed and rest, though not to escape enemies, as they prefer to stand their ground. They are capable of climbing on smooth surfaces and hang upside down like sloths.
Relationships with other animals
Bengal tigers will occasionally prey on sloth bears. Tigers usually give sloth bears a wide berth, though some specimens may become habitual bear killers and it is not uncommon to find sloth bear fur in tiger scats. Tigers typically hunt sloth bears by waiting for them near termite mounds, then creep behind them and seize them by the back of their necks and force them to the ground with their weight. As tigers are known to mimic the calls of
sambar deer to attract them, sloth bears react fearfully even to the sounds made by deer themselves.
Indian leopards can also be a threat, as they are able to follow sloth bears up trees.
Dhole packs may attack sloth bears, though they are not a usual prey item. When attacking sloth bears, dholes will try to prevent the bear from retreating in caves.
Asian elephants apparently do not tolerate sloth bears in their vicinity. The reason for this is unknown, as individual elephants known to maintain their composure near tigers have been reported to charge bears.
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Relationships with humans
Attacks on humans
According to
Robert Armitage Sterndale, in his
Mammalia of India (1884, p. 62):
Captain Williamson in his Oriental Field Sports wrote of how sloth bears rarely killed their human victims outright, but would suck and chew on their limbs till they were reduced to bloody pulps. One specimen, known as the Sloth bear of Mysore, was singlehandedly responsible for the deaths of 12 people and the mutilation of 2 dozen others before being shot by Kenneth Anderson. Although sloth bears have attacked humans, they rarely become man-eaters. Dunbar-Brander's Wild Animals of Central India mentions a case in which a sow with two cubs began a six week reign of terror in Chanda, a district of the Central Provinces, during which more than one of their victims had been eaten, while the sloth bear of Mysore partially ate at least three of its victims. In Madhya Pradesh, sloth bear attacks accounted for the deaths of 48 people and the injuring of 686 others between the years 1989 and 1994, probably due in part to the density of population and competition for food sources. A total of 137 attacks (resulting in 11 deaths) occurred between April 1998 and December 2000 in the North Bilaspur Forest Division of Chhattisgarh. The majority of attacks were perpetrated by single bears, and occurred in kitchen gardens, crop fields, and in adjoining forests during the monsoon season. One Mr. Watts Jones wrote a first hand account of how it feels to be attacked by a sloth bear, recalling when he failed to score a direct hit against a bear he had targeted:
It is likely that sloth bears view humans as predators, as their reactions to them (roaring, followed by retreat or charging) are similar to those evoked in the presence of tigers and leopards. Sloth bears were also occasionally speared on horseback.
Dancing bears were historically a popular entertainment in India, dating back to the 13th century and the pre-Mughal era. The Kalandars, who practised the tradition of capturing sloth bears for entertainment purposes, were often employed in the courts of Mughal emperors to stage spectacles involving trained bears.
In 2009, following a seven year campaign by a coalition in Indian and international animal welfare groups, the last Kalandar dancing bear was set free. The effort to end the practice involved helping the bear handlers find jobs and education, which enabled them to reduce their reliance on dancing bear income.
Cultural references
In
Rudyard Kipling's
The Jungle Book,
Baloo "the sleepy old grey bear" teaches
the Law of the Jungle to the wolf cubs of the Seeonee
wolf pack, as well as to his most challenging pupil, the "man-cub"
Mowgli.
Robert Armitage Sterndale, from whom Kipling derived most of his knowledge of Indian fauna, used the Hindustani word "
Bhalu" for several bear species, though Daniel Karlin, who edited the Penguin reissue of
The Jungle Book in 1989 states that with the exception of colour, Kipling's descriptions of Baloo are consistent with the sloth bear, as
brown bears and
Asian black bears do not occur in the
Seoni area where the novel takes place. Also, the name "sloth" can be used in the context of sleepiness. Karlin states however that Baloo's diet of ".. only roots and nuts and honey" is a trait more common to the Asian black bear than to the sloth bear.
References
External links
Field Trip Earth – Field Trip Earth is a conservation education website operated by the North Carolina Zoological Society.
Sloth Bear at Animal Diversity Web
Category:Bears
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Category:Monotypic mammal genera
