Sloth Bears

Sloth Bears - Habitat

Picture source: BBCi © 2003 www.bbc.co.uk

Sloth Bears (Indian bears, Jungle jokers, lip bears or Ursus ursinus Meyer) inhabit forested areas and grasslands at lower elevations. They can live both in dry and jungle areas. The Sloth Bear species can be found in India, Sri Lanka, Bangladesh, Bhutan and Nepal.

Sloth Bears - Evolution

The ancestors of all modern bears, including the Sloth bear, evolved from a bear-like dog that developed from the miacids (a small tree-climbing carnivorous mammal living 30-40 million years ago.) The first bears lived in subtropical Europe about 20 million years ago. It was the size of a small dog. About 2.5 million years ago the direct ancestors of the modern bears appeared. The genus Ursus has divided into three evolutionary lines about 2 million years ago.

Sloth Bears - Diet

The main food for Sloth Bears is termites, which are abundant and stable food source. They also eat other insects, bird eggs, honey, fruits and various kinds of vegetation. Sloth Bears have special adaptations for eating termites. They lack the inner part of upper incisors, this allows them to form a gap and suck the termites into their mouths.

The naked lips of Sloth Bears can protrude and the long tongue helps to lick the termites. Also Sloth Bears have little hair on the muzzle that protects them from termites' bites. These bears can close their nostrils such as to not let the termites into their noses. Sloth Bears dig into the hard tall pillars where the termites live and insert their muzzle to suck up the insects and their larvae. Sloth Bears also climb and shake trees to obtain fruits.

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A grizzly bear photo and pictures of the cubs may be found at a breeder.