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Illustrated Encyclopedia of Endangered Animals

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Endangered animals

  • English name
    Sloth Bear
  • ClassificationCarnivora, Ursidae
  • Scientific nameMelursus Ursinus

Sloth Bear
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The Sloth Bear lives in India and Sri Lanka and mainly eats termites. Their numbers are declining due to hunting, and because forests are being turned into farmland.

Size & Weight (Adult)

Body length: 150-190cm
Weight: 90-145kg

(Source: Doubutsu Sekai-isan* Red Data Animals Kodansha) (*World Animal Heritage)

Where they live

Sloth Bears live in the forests of India, Sri Lanka, Bangladesh, and Nepal.

What they eat

Their favorite food is termites. They also eat many other things such as fruits, honey, and flowers.

What they are like

The Sloth Bear uses its long claws to hang upside down on tree branches, just like a sloth, which is how it got its name.

Find out more the Sloth Bear!

Unfitting to its large build, Sloth Bears like to eat termites
The long, shaggy haired Sloth Bear lives in the forests of India and Sri Lanka. Unfitting to its large build, the Sloth Bear primarily eats termites. The bear forms a straw out of its lips to suck up termites or blow away dirt. A Sloth Bear will almost never attack and eat another animal because it usually eats insects, although it may eat the flesh of a dead carcass were it to encounter one.

Humans are to blame for their food shortage.
There are many reasons why Sloth Bears are disappearing. People have killed adult bears to capture and teach the young bears tricks. Many Sloth Bears have also been captured to be sold to make medicine and food. More recently, people have been cutting down trees in the forests to convert the land into farmland. Now the Sloth Bear is homeless and helpless, sometimes being exterminated just for trying to survive by eating crops.

Reference

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