Sloth bear

느림보곰

A shaggy black bear of India and Sri Lanka with long pale claws and a white V on its chest. It rips open termite mounds and sucks the insects up through its lips. Mothers carry their cubs on their backs.

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At a glance

Class: Mammals
Lives in: Forests of central India (Madhya Pradesh)
Diet: Eats both plants and meat (omnivore)
Weight: about 95 kg
Length: about 1.6 m
Conservation status: Vulnerable (IUCN VU)
Habitat: forests, grasslands

Quick answers

Where does the Sloth bear live?

It lives in forests, grasslands. On the globe you can find it near Forests of central India (Madhya Pradesh).

How big is the Sloth bear?

It grows to about 1.6 m and 95 kg.

What does the Sloth bear eat?

Its diet: eats both plants and meat (omnivore).

Is the Sloth bear endangered?

It is listed as Vulnerable (IUCN VU).

The sloth bear is a shaggy black bear of India, Nepal, Pakistan and Sri Lanka, with long, pale claws and a white V or crescent on its chest. It is called a sloth bear because early scientists thought it was a kind of sloth, but it was later reclassified as a bear. It is about 150 to 190 centimetres long.

It specialises in eating ants and termites, plus fruit and honey. It has a long lower lip and palate for sucking up insects, and the IUCN lists it as vulnerable, mainly because of habitat loss. It is the only species in the genus Melursus.

A bear that vacuums termites

The sloth bear digs into termite mounds with its long, curved claws and sucks the insects out through its lips and a gap where its upper front teeth are missing. It is mainly omnivorous and leans to plants, eating fruits, honey and insects, and occasionally small animals and carrion. It has features in common with other insect-eating mammals, an example of convergent evolution.

Family life and trouble

Sloth bears breed in spring and early summer and give birth around the beginning of winter. Mothers carry the cubs on their backs. They have lost much of their habitat, and in the past people hunted them for food and for products such as claws and bones. They were also tamed and used as dancing performers. The Baloo of The Jungle Book is based on this bear.

Fun facts

It sucks up termites like a vacuum cleaner through a gap where two front teeth are missing.
It sucks up termites like a vacuum cleaner.
Mothers carry cubs on their backs.
Baloo in The Jungle Book is a sloth bear.
It was once mistaken for a sloth.