A shaggy, long-snouted bear of the Indian subcontinent — specialised as a termite and ant eater, with long curved claws for tearing open mounds, a mobile lower lip and long tongue for extracting insects, and the ability to close its nostrils to keep out dust; the sloth bear's noisy sucking sounds as it vacuums up termites can be heard from 100 metres away.
Insect specialist
The sloth bear is the most insectivorous of all bears, with a suite of anatomical modifications for eating termites and ants. It has the longest claws of any bear relative to body size, used to rip open hardened termite mounds. Its lips are mobile and protrusible, forming a tube; it can close its nostrils voluntarily; and it has a long tongue and a gap in its front teeth through which it hoovers up insects with a powerful vacuum created by its flexible lips and palate. The resulting noise — a loud, rasping, snuffling roar — can be heard from considerable distance.
Carrying cubs on the back
Female sloth bears carry their cubs on their backs — a behaviour unique among bears and unusual among large mammals. Cubs cling to the long shaggy hair of the mother’s back for their first months of life. The long, shaggy coat of the sloth bear, with a distinctive pale V or Y-shaped mark on the chest, likely evolved partly to provide the cubs with something to grip.
Dancing bears
Sloth bears were historically captured and trained as “dancing bears” in India. A metal ring was inserted through the bear’s muzzle, and the animal was made to perform on the streets of Indian cities. The practice, which involved considerable cruelty, was common for centuries and persisted illegally into the 21st century. Wildlife NGOs have worked to rescue surviving dancing bears and rehabilitate them.
Human conflict
Sloth bears are responsible for more human injuries and deaths in India than any other large carnivore, including tigers. They have poor eyesight and are easily surprised at close quarters; a startled sloth bear’s first instinct is to attack, targeting the face and head. Despite this, sloth bears are not hunters of humans and attacks are nearly always defensive.