Animal Facts - Sloth Bear
Sloth Bear Habitat
The Sri Lankan Sloth Bear lives only on the island of Sri Lanka.
Most of the Indian Sloth Bears live in India, but smaller numbers also live in:
- Bangladesh
- Bhutan
- Nepal
- Myanmar (Burma).
The Sloth Bear also lives in Burma and India, and the Asiatic Black Bear also lives in India, Bhutan and Burma. In some places the bears’ territories overlap, but Sloth Bears usually get along with their cousins.
Sloth Bears live in forests, grasslands, thorny woodlands and wet tropical areas, but their habitat is being destroyed and the bears are endangered.
There are several reasons why.
People in most of these countries are poor and it is not easy for them to care for animals and the environment.
Forests are being cleared because land is needed for houses and farming, and money can be made from logging. Some of the plants in the bears’ habitat are collected to make medicines.
In some places people are still allowed to hunt the bears and parts of their bodies are sold, often for use in medicines.
When the bears’ habitat gets smaller it is harder for them to find food.
So they move closer to villages looking for human food like fruit and honey.
Hungry bears can be aggressive and can attack.
Things are being done to protect the Sloth Bear and its habitat. The Association of Zoos and Aquariums has a Species Survival Plan and the Indian Government has set up the Jessore Sloth Bear Sanctuary in northern India. The United Nations is working with local people there to take care of the trees, plants and water systems that the bears need to survive.
Tourists visit the sanctuary to see the bears and other animals like panthers, jungle cats and wild boar and this also raises money for the work. And everything that is learned about the bears is shared with scientists in other countries who are also trying to save the Sloth Bear.