Animal Facts - Sloth Bear

Sloth Bear Diet

Sloth Bears are omnivores, meaning they eat both plant and animal and food.

In the wild their favourite food is termites.

They dig into termite mounds with their sharp claws then blow through their big lips to brush the dirt away from the insects.

Then they suck them up. People say they can hear the sucking from about 91 metres (300 feet) away!

If termites try to crawl into their nose, the bears close their nostrils to keep them out.

There are usually lots of ants and termites for the bears to eat because only one other animal eats them, the Pangolin or spiny anteater. So there is not much competition for the bears.

Sloth bears in the wild also eat:

• Ants and other insects
• Bee larvae
• Grubs
• Crops such as sugarcane, corn and yams
• Grass
• Honey
• Eggs
• Carrion (animals they find that are already dead)
• Fruits
• Berries
• Nuts and seed pods
• Flowers.

The type of food available depends on what season it is and where the bears are living.

To find honey or fruit they can climb about 8 metres (26 feet) up a tree and hang from branches. Then they raid the honeycombs or shake the branches until the fruit drops off.

Sloth Bears living in zoos eat:

• Grass
• Insects
• Honey
• Eggs
• Fruits and vegetables.

Like their cousin the Sun Bear, Sloth Bears have a very good sense of smell and they usually hunt using their noses to sniff out food, instead of looking for it.

Sloth Bear Habits and Biology >>