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65-562: The Agra Bear Rescue Facility is a Sloth bear rescue facility dedicated to rehabilitating previously enslaved ' dancing bears '. Established in 1999 by Wildlife SOS in collaboration with the Uttar Pradesh Forest Department and others, the facility is located in an eight-hectare site inside the Sur Sarovar Bird Sanctuary (also known as Keetham Lake), 17 km west of Agra. It is one of

130-470: A black bear with a longer, narrower skull shape (particularly the snout), loose-looking, flappier lips and paler muzzle colour. In few areas of overlap, sloth bear confusion with sun bears is unlikely, given the latter species considerably smaller size, much shorter fur, wrinkled folding skin (especially around the back), bolder chest marking and drastically different, more compact head structure and appearance. The sloth bear's global range includes India ,

195-543: A classification was hard to sustain, and there was a growing trend to see the features as examples of convergent evolution . For example, at the start of the 20th century Frank Evers Beddard , writing in The Cambridge Natural History, Vol 10, Mammalia , having discussed some discrepant features, said: "The fact is, that we have here a polymorphic order which contains in all probability representatives of at least two separate orders. We have at present

260-430: A hairless web. They have the longest tail in the bear family, which can grow to 15–18 cm (6–7 in). Their back legs are not very strong, though they are knee-jointed, and allow them to assume almost any position. The ears are very large and floppy. The sloth bear is the only bear with long hair on its ears. Sloth bear fur is completely black (rusty for some specimens), save for a whitish Y- or V-shaped mark on

325-534: A laboratory, along with X-ray , Ultrasound , Dental suite, Operation theatre and other equipments. The facility also includes a special cub weaning area which is dedicated to foster rescued baby bears. Because the bears have been captive most of their lives, it’s unlikely they can ever be released into the wild, but the goal of Wildlife SOS is to eradicate the practice of dancing bears –which has been illegal in India since 1972 but still enslaves bears,– and thus stop

390-762: A mane around the face, and long, sickle-shaped claws. It is lankier than brown and Asian black bears . It shares features of insectivorous mammals and evolved during the Pleistocene from the ancestral brown bear through divergent evolution . Sloth bears breed during spring and early summer and give birth near the beginning of winter. When their territories are encroached upon by humans, they sometimes attack them. Historically, humans have drastically reduced these bears' habitat and diminished their population by hunting them for food and products such as their bacula and claws. Sloth bears have been tamed and used as performing animals and as pets. George Shaw in 1791 named

455-463: A month after birth, become independent at 24–36 months, and become sexually mature at the age of three years. Young cubs ride on their mother's back when she walks, runs, or climbs trees until they reach a third of her size. Individual riding positions are maintained by cubs through fighting. Intervals between litters can last two to three years. Sloth bears are expert hunters of termites , ants , and bees , which they locate by smell. On arriving at

520-546: A mound, they scrape at the structure with their claws until they reach the large combs at the bottom of the galleries, and disperse the soil with violent puffs. The termites are then sucked up through the muzzle, producing a sucking sound which can be heard 180 m away. Their sense of smell is strong enough to detect grubs 3 ft below ground. Unlike other bears, they do not congregate in feeding groups. Sloth bears may supplement their diets with fruit, plant matter, carrion, and very rarely other mammals. In March and April, they eat

585-411: A physical attack almost immediately. When people living near an aggressive population of sloth bears were armed with rifles, it was found that it was an ineffective form of defense, since the bear apparently charges and knocks the victim back (often knocking the rifle away) before the human has the chance to defend themself. In Madhya Pradesh , sloth bear attacks accounted for the deaths of 48 people and

650-711: A shot into the bear, and he left me. I felt the weight lift off me, and got up. I did not think I was much hurt. ... The main wound was a flap of flesh torn out of the inside of my left thigh and left hanging. It was fairly deep, and I could see all the muscles working underneath when I lifted it up to clean the wound." Myrmecophagous Myrmecophagy is a feeding behavior defined by the consumption of termites or ants , particularly as pertaining to those animal species whose diets are largely or exclusively composed of said insect types. Literally, myrmecophagy means "ant-eating" (Ancient Greek: murmēx , "ants" and phagein , "to eat") rather than "termite eating" (for which

715-431: A single claw being interpreted as being used to break into colonial insect nests. Mammals that specialize in myrmecophagy often display similar adaptations for this niche. Many have powerful forelimbs and claws adapted to excavating the nests of ant or termite colonies from the earth or from wood or under bark. Most have reduced teeth and some have reduced jaws as well. Many have low basal body temperatures resulting from

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780-406: 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, both young and adult sloth bears are excellent climbers. They occasionally will climb to feed and to rest, though not to escape enemies, as they prefer to stand their ground. Sloth bear mothers carry their cubs up trees as

845-502: A three-quarters grown female sloth bear in an apparently lengthy fight that culminated in the trees. Apparently, a sloth bear killed a leopard in a confrontation in Yala National Park , Sri Lanka , but was itself badly injured in the fight and was subsequently put down by park rangers. Sloth bears occasionally chase leopards from their kills. Dhole packs may attack sloth bears. When attacking them, dholes try to prevent

910-563: A very few, and these perhaps highly modified, descendants of a large and diverse group of mammals." As genome sequences for various former members of Edentata have been published, all genetic evidence has confirmed that its members are taxonomically distant. Ants are dangerous, small, and rich in distasteful and harmful compounds, making them difficult prey and favouring ant mimicry for defence among invertebrates. Ants are plentiful, so members of several invertebrate taxa do feed on ants. Such ant predators include some spiders, such as species in

975-762: Is a medium-sized omnivorous species of bear found in the Indian subcontinent, predominantly India, with a small population in Nepal and Bhutan, and a sub-species in Sri Lanka. It is listed as vulnerable on the IUCN Red list . For over 400 years, the Sloth Bear had been a target for human exploitation. A nomadic tribe known as the Kalandars began keeping ‘dancing’ sloth bears which entertained Mughal emperors. Over

1040-620: Is fed to the cubs. This "bear's bread" is considered a delicacy by some of India's natives. Rarely, Sloth bears can become addicted to sweets in hotel waste, visiting rubbish bins, even inside populated towns, all year long. Their diet includes animal flesh. In Neyyar Wildlife Sanctuary, Kerala, seeds of six tree species eaten and excreted by sloth bears ( Artocarpus hirsuta , A. integrifolia , Cassia fistula , Mangifera indica , Zizyphus oenoplina ) did not see significantly different percentages of germination (appearance of cotyledon) when compared to germinated seeds that had not been passed through

1105-890: Is from 55 to 105 kg (121 to 231 lb), and for males is from 80 to 145 kg (176 to 320 lb). Exceptionally large female specimens can reach 124 kg (273 lb) and males up to 192 kg (423 lb). The average weight of sloth bears from the nominate subspecies in Nepal was 95 kg (209 lb) in females and 114 kg (251 lb) in males. Nominate bears in India were found to weigh average 93.2 kg (205 lb) in males and 83.3 kg (184 lb) in female per one study. Specimens from Sri Lanka ( M. u. inornatus ) may weigh up to 68.2 kg (150 lb) in females and 104.5 kg (230 lb) in males. However six Sri Lankan male sloth bears averaged only 74.8 kg (165 lb), and 57.5 kg (127 lb)

1170-771: Is made as a warning signal. Chuffing calls are made when disturbed. Females keep in contact with their cubs with a grunt-whicker while cubs yelp when separated. The breeding season for sloth bears varies according to location: in India, they mate in April, May, and June, and give birth in December and early January, while in Sri Lanka, it occurs all year. Sows gestate for 210 days, and typically give birth in caves or in shelters under boulders. Litters usually consist of one or two cubs, or rarely three. Cubs are born blind, and open their eyes after four weeks. Sloth bear cubs develop quickly compared to most other bear species: they start walking

1235-410: Is not uncommon to find sloth bear fur in tiger scats. Tigers typically hunt sloth bears by waiting for them near termite mounds, then creeping behind them and seizing them by the back of their necks and forcing them to the ground with their weight. One tiger was reported to simply break its victim's back with its paw, then wait for the paralysed bear to exhaust itself trying to escape before going in for

1300-710: Is restricted to the Terai . Sloth bears may have reached their current form in the Early Pleistocene , the time when the bear family specialised and dispersed. A fragment of fossilised humerus from the Pleistocene, found in Andhra Pradesh 's Kurnool Basin is identical to the humerus of a modern sloth bear. The fossilised skulls of a bear once named Melursus theobaldi found in the Shivaliks from

1365-589: Is still large. Many organisations are helping in the conservation and preservation of sloth bears in safe places. Sloth bears previously used for entertainment are being rehabilitated in facilities like Agra Bear Rescue Facility run by Wildlife SOS and others. Major sloth bear sanctuaries in India include the Daroji bear sanctuary, Karnataka. Sloth bears have also been found dead in traps, electrocuted, or killed by other means by poachers, with body parts (i.e. canines, claws, gall bladder, paws, etc) usually removed for

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1430-474: Is the coccinellid Diomus ; larvae of Diomus thoracicus in French Guiana specialise in the nests of the invasive ant species Wasmannia auropunctata . One of the predominant predators on ants are other ants, especially the army ants and their close relatives. Some ants such as the raider ant Oocerea biroi and the new world army ant Nomamyrmex esenbecki are obligate myrmecophages, that

1495-575: The Dendrobatidae ), a number of New World bird species ( Antbirds , Antthrushes , Antpittas , flicker of genus Colaptes ), and multiple mammalian groups including anteaters , aardvarks , aardwolves , armadillos , echidnas , numbats , pangolins , and sloth bears . The extinct alvarezsaurids , a group of theropod dinosaurs from the Cretaceous period, have been interpreted as myrmecophagous, with their short, robustly built arms with

1560-612: The Himalayan black bear subspecies of Asian black bear is nearly as dangerous. Sloth bears likely view humans as potential predators, as their reactions to them (roaring, followed by retreat or charging) are similar to those evoked in the presence of tigers and leopards. Their long claws, which are ideally adapted for digging at termite mounds, make adults less capable of climbing trees to escape danger, as are other bears such as Asian black bears. Therefore, sloth bears have seemingly evolved to deal with threats by behaving aggressively. For

1625-547: The Indian bear , is a myrmecophagous bear species native to the Indian subcontinent . It feeds on fruits , ants and termites . It is listed as vulnerable on the IUCN Red List , mainly because of habitat loss and degradation . It is the only species in the genus Melursus . It has also been called "labiated bear" because of its long lower lip and palate used for sucking up insects. It has long, shaggy fur,

1690-560: The Terai of Nepal , temperate climatic zones of Bhutan and Sri Lanka . It occurs in a wide range of habitats including moist and dry tropical forests , savannahs , scrublands and grasslands below 1,500 m (4,900 ft) on the Indian subcontinent, and below 300 m (980 ft) in Sri Lanka's dry forests . It is regionally extinct in Bangladesh. Adult sloth bears may travel in pairs. Males are often observed to be gentle with cubs. They may fight for food. They walk in

1755-581: The sloth bear of Mysore , was responsible for the deaths of 12 people and the mutilation of 24 others. It was 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

1820-479: The Early Pleistocene or Early Pliocene are thought by certain authors to represent an intermediate stage between sloth bears and ancestral brown bears. M. theobaldi itself had teeth intermediate in size between sloth bears and other bear species, though its palate was the same size as the former species, leading to the theory that it is the sloth bear's direct ancestor. Sloth bears probably arose during

1885-1364: The Middle Pliocene and evolved in the Indian subcontinent. The sloth bear shows evidence of having undergone a convergent evolution similar to that of other ant-eating mammals. The sloth bear is one of eight extant species in the bear family Ursidae and of six extant species in the subfamily Ursinae . Giant panda ( Ailuropoda melanoleuca ) [REDACTED] Spectacled bear ( Tremarctos ornatus ) [REDACTED] Sloth bear ( Melursus ursinus ) [REDACTED] Sun bear ( Helarctos malayanus ) [REDACTED] Asian black bear ( Ursus thibetanus ) [REDACTED] American black bear ( Ursus americanus ) [REDACTED] Polar bear ( Ursus maritimus ) [REDACTED] Brown bear ( Ursus arctos ) [REDACTED] Giant panda ( Ailuropoda melanoleuca ) [REDACTED] Spectacled bear ( Tremarctos ornatus ) [REDACTED] Sloth bear ( Melursus ursinus ) [REDACTED] Sun bear ( Helarctos malayanus ) [REDACTED] Asian black bear ( Ursus thibetanus ) [REDACTED] American black bear ( Ursus americanus ) [REDACTED] Polar bear ( Ursus maritimus ) [REDACTED] Brown bear ( Ursus arctos ) [REDACTED] Sloth bears adults are medium-sized bears. The typical weight range for females

1950-648: The Uttar Pradesh Forest Department, International Animal Rescue , One Voice, Free The Bears , and others, Wildlife SOS established the Agra Bear Rescue Facility to rehabilitate bears. On arrival to the facility, the rescued bears undergo a 90-day quarantine to prevent spread of any infectious disease to any other bear. Other immediate procedures include a complete health checkup where bears are treated for any diseases, wounds and parasites. The bear receives vaccination for many diseases like Rabies , Leptospirosis and infectious canine hepatitis . Once

2015-426: The bear from retreating into caves. Unlike tigers which prey on sloth bears of all size, there is little evidence that dholes are a threat to fully-grown sloth bears other than exceptionally rare cases. In one case, a golden jackal (a species much smaller and less powerful than a sloth bear and not generally a pack hunter as is the dhole) was seen to aggressively displace an adult bear which passively loped away from

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2080-431: The bear's weight was on me, and he was biting my leg. He bit two or three times. I felt the flesh crush, but I felt no pain at all. It was rather like having a tooth out with gas. I felt no particular terror, though I thought the bear had got me; but in a hazy sort of way I wondered when he would kill me, and thought what a fool I was to get killed by a stupid beast like a bear. The shikari then very pluckily came up and fired

2145-579: The centuries, the ‘dancing’ bear trade transitioned to become cheap roadside entertainment for villagers and tourists who paid to watch the bears. The practice of enslaving bears for use as 'dancing' bears has been illegal in India under the Wildlife Protection Act 1972 . However this rule was not well enforced, and as a result hundreds of bears remained enslaved. The bears were poached from the forests as cubs,– their mothers often killed, and sold in illegal markets to Kalandars, who have used

2210-549: The chest. This feature is sometimes absent, particularly in Sri Lankan specimens. 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 (tigers usually do not carry out attacks on an adult bear if the bear is aware or facing the cat). The coat is long, shaggy, and unkempt, despite the relatively warm environment in which

2275-448: The conservation ethics, particularly among locals. To resolve this conflict, the basic issue of deteriorating habitat, which is the reason for the conflict between people and bears, improvements through government or community-based reforestation programmes, may be promoted. The population of sloth bears grows when they live in high-profile reserves that protect species, such as tigers and elephants. Directly managed reserves could conserve

2340-507: The dancing bears as a source of income for centuries. With no anaesthesia , a metal rod would be inserted through their muzzle so that a rope or nose ring can be attached and they spent much of their lives in pain chained to a stake or in a cage. Their canine teeth were crudely knocked out, and the bears were beaten into submission to teach them to ‘perform’. In 1996, Wildlife SOS's research indicated that there were more than 1200 ‘dancing’ bears scattered throughout India. In collaboration with

2405-406: The fallen petals of mowha trees and are partial to mangoes , maize , sugar cane , jackfruit , and the pods of the golden shower tree . Sloth bears are extremely fond of honey. When feeding their cubs, sows are reported to regurgitate a mixture of half-digested jack fruit, wood apples , and pieces of honeycomb . This sticky substance hardens into a dark yellow, circular, bread-like mass which

2470-481: The family Reduviidae feed largely or exclusively on ants. Examples include the genera Paredocla and Acanthaspis . Some insects that feed on ants do so because they are opportunistic predators of small insects that run on the ground surface, of which ants are a large proportion. Remarkable examples of convergent evolution are certain species of the Neuropteran family Myrmeleontidae , largely Myrmeleon ,

2535-604: The family Salticidae (jumping spiders), spiders in the family Oecobiidae and the family Theridiidae. While exclusive myrmecophagy is not very common, there are some striking examples, such as the Australian ant-slayer spider Euryopis umbilicata that feeds almost exclusively on one species of ant. Other examples include some myrmecomorphs ( ant mimics ) and myrmecophiles . Myrmecomorphs are Batesian mimics , giving them protection against predators which avoid ants, and access to abundant food. Various Hemipteran bugs, in

2600-474: The four facilities in India operated by Wildlife SOS for this purpose, and helped in the eradication of the ‘dancing bear’ practice in India. It currently houses over 170 sloth bears as well as other wildlife. Agra Bear Rescue Facility also does advanced research, disease management and provides specialised veterinary care as well as geriatric care for sloth bears. The facility is available for tours by small groups of people. The sloth bear ( Melurus ursinus )

2665-403: The gut of the bears. However, seeds germinated much faster after being ingested by bears for three species, Artocarpus hirsuta, Cassia fistula, and Zizyphus oenoplina . This experiment suggests that sloth bears may play an important role in seed dispersal and germination, with effects varying by tree species. The large canine teeth of sloth bears, relative to both its overall body size and to

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2730-417: The illegal wildlife trade. Sloth bears are one of the most aggressive extant bears and, due to large human populations often closely surrounding reserves that hold bears, aggressive encounters and attacks are relatively frequent, though in some places, attacks appear to be a reaction to encountering people accidentally. In absolute numbers, this is the species of bear that most regularly attacks humans. Only

2795-506: The injuring of 686 others between 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

2860-469: The kill. When confronted by tigers face to face, sloth bears charge at them, crying loudly. A young or already sated tiger usually retreats from an assertive sloth bear, as the bear's claws can inflict serious wounds, and most tigers end the hunt if the bears become aware of the tiger's presence before the pounce. Sloth bears may scavenge on tiger kills. As tigers are known to mimic the calls of sambar deer to attract them, sloth bears react fearfully even to

2925-446: The later instars of caterpillars of many butterflies in the family Lycaenidae enter the nests of particular species of ants and eat the ants' eggs and larvae. Larvae of some species of flies, such as the genus Microdon in the family Syrphidae spend their entire immature lives in the nests of ants, feeding largely or entirely on the ant brood. Some beetles specialise in feeding on the brood of particular species of ants. An example

2990-457: The low caloric content of ants and termites, and most have advanced olfaction to help them find prey. Practically all have long, sticky tongues. In the nineteenth and early twentieth century many zoologists saw these shared features as evidence of relatedness, and accordingly they regarded the various species as a single order of Mammalia , the Edentata . It quite early became clear that such

3055-449: 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: I do not know exactly what happened next, neither does my hunter who was with me; but I believe, from the marks in the snow, that in his rush the bear knocked me over backwards in fact, knocked me three or four feet away. When next I remember anything,

3120-601: The outer edge of their noses, and they 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 soil they suck up and chew when feeding on insects. The back of the palate is long and broad, as is typical in other ant-eating mammals. The paws are disproportionately large, and have highly developed, sickle-shaped, blunt claws which measure 10 cm (4 in) in length. Their toe pads are connected by

3185-627: The poaching of cubs. An important part of this is finding an alternative source of income for the Kalandar tribespeople and educating them about the cruelty of their former profession. A number of young Kalandar men are even employed at the facility helping care for the bears. The facility is available for tours, with a payment of entry fee to the Forest Department in order to access the facility, when last checked. Sloth bear The sloth bear ( Melursus ursinus ), also known as

3250-861: The primary defense against attacks by predators instead of sending them up trees. The cubs can be threatened by predators such as tigers, leopards, and other bears. They are adequate climbers on more accessible trees but cannot climb as quickly or on as varied surfaces as can black bears due to the sloth species' more elongated claw structure. Given their smaller size and still shorter claws, sloth bear cubs probably climb more proficiently than adults (much as brown bear cubs can climb well but not adults). They are good swimmers, and primarily enter water to play. To mark their territories, sloth bears scrape trees with their forepaws, and rub against them with their flanks. Sloth bears are recorded to produce several sounds and vocals. Howls, squeals, screams, barks and trumpet-like calls are made during aggressive encounters while huffing

3315-421: The quarantine period ends, the bears are encouraged to go into large socialisation enclosures with other bears where the behaviour and personality of each bear is monitored by Wildlife SOS staff. After this process, the bear is matched to a group based on its personality, and then moved to a larger free-range area. The facility has full-time wildlife veterinary doctors and bear keepers. The bear hospital features

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3380-429: The same reason, brown bears can be similarly inclined, accounting for the relatively high incidence of seemingly nonpredatory aggression towards humans in these two bear species. According to Robert Armitage Sterndale , in his Mammalia of India (1884, p. 62): [The sloth bear] is also more inclined to attack man unprovoked than almost any other animal, and casualties inflicted by it are unfortunately very common,

3445-430: The size of the canine teeth of other bear species, and the aggressive disposition of sloth bears, may be a defense in interactions with large, dangerous animals, such as the tiger , elephant , and rhinoceros , as well as prehistoric species such as Megantereon . Bengal tigers occasionally prey on sloth bears. Tigers usually give sloth bears a wide berth, though some specimens may become habitual bear killers, and it

3510-448: The sloth bear of Mysore partially ate at least three of its victims. R.G. Burton deduced from comparing statistics that sloth bears killed more people than Asian black bears, and Theodore Roosevelt considered them to be more dangerous than American black bears . Unlike some other bear species, which at times make mock charges at humans when surprised or frightened without making physical contact, sloth bears frequently appear to initiate

3575-477: The sloth bear, hence such reserves must be supported. Managing garbage, especially hotel waste with foods, is essential in situations where sloth bears get used to entering towns with an increase in the number of accidental attacks on humans. The government of India has banned use of sloth bears for entertainment, and a 'Sloth Bear Welfare Project' in the country has the objective of putting an end to their use for entertainment. However, their number in such activity

3640-643: The snapping canid, indicating the sloth bear does not regard other carnivores as competition. Sloth bears are sympatric with Asiatic black bears in northern India, and the two species, along with the sun bear , coexist in some of the national parks and wildlife sanctuaries. They are also found together in Assam, Manipur, and Mizoram, in the hills south of the Brahmaputra River , the only places occupied by all three bear species. The three species do not act aggressively toward each other. This may be because

3705-517: The so-called ant lions, and the Dipteran family Vermileonidae , in particular the genera Lampromyia and Vermileo , the so-called worm lions. Both of them are regarded with interest for their habit of constructing conical pit traps in fine sand or dust, at the bottom of which they await prey that has fallen in. Both throw sand to interfere with any attempts on the part of the prey to escape. Myrmecophagy takes more forms than just eating adult ants;

3770-451: The sounds made by deer themselves. In 2011, a female bear with cubs was observed to stand her ground and prevail in a confrontation against two tigers (one female, one male) in rapid succession. Besides tigers there are few predators of sloth bears. Leopards can also be a threat, as they are able to follow sloth bears up trees. Bear cubs are probably far more vulnerable and healthy adult bears may be avoided by leopards. One leopard killed

3835-479: The species Bradypus ursinus . In 1793, Meyer named it Melursus lybius , and in 1817, de Blainville named it Ursus labiatus because of its long lips. Illiger named it Prochilus hirsutus , the Greek genus name indicating long lips, while the specific name noted its long and coarse hair. Fischer called it Chondrorhynchus hirsutus , while Tiedemann named it Ursus longirostris . [REDACTED] In Nepal , it

3900-430: The species is found, and is particularly heavy behind the neck and between the shoulders, forming a mane which can be 30 cm (12 in) long. The belly and underlegs can be almost bare. Sloth bears are usually about the same size as an Asian black bear but are immediately distinctive for their shaggier coat, whitish claws, as well as their typically rangier build. Their head and mouth is highly distinct from that of

3965-431: The strict term is termitophagy). The two habits often overlap, as both of these eusocial insect types often live in large, densely populated nests requiring similar adaptations in the animal species that exploit them. Myrmecophagy is found in several land-dwelling vertebrate taxa, including reptiles and amphibians ( horned lizards and blind snakes , narrow-mouthed toads of the family Microhylidae and poison frogs of

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4030-442: The three species generally differ in habit and dietary preferences. 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. The Indian rhinoceros has a similar intolerance for sloth bears, and will charge at them. IUCN estimates that fewer than 20,000 sloth bears survive in

4095-475: The victim being often terribly disfigured even if not killed, as the bear strikes at the head and face. [William Thomas] Blanford was inclined to consider bears more dangerous than tigers... 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

4160-767: The wilds of the Indian subcontinent and Sri Lanka. The sloth bear is listed in Schedule I of the Indian Wildlife Protection Act, 1972 , which provides for their legal protection. Commercial international trade of the sloth bear (including parts and derivatives) is prohibited as it is listed in Appendix I of the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species . To address the human-bear conflict, people may be educated about

4225-613: Was the average for four females, so Sri Lankan bears could be around 30% lighter in body mass than nominate race bears and with more pronounced size sexual dimorphism. They are 60–92 cm (2 ft 0 in – 3 ft 0 in) high at the shoulder, and have a body length of 1.4–1.9 m (4 ft 7 in – 6 ft 3 in). Besides being smaller than males, females reportedly typically have more fur between their shoulders. 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

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