Sri Lankan Sloth Bear

The Sri Lankan Sloth Bear (melursus ursinus inornatus) is a subspecies of the Sloth Bear. It is the only representative of the Bear Family or Ursidae found in Sri Lanka. It is an endemic animal to Sri Lanka and classified as one of the most threatened with extinction by the IUCN. It is called Walaha in Sinhala and Karadi in Tamil.

Description

Sloth bears are small and have long, shaggy black fur, especially over the shoulders and neck, which looks like a mane. It has a distinctive whitish or yellowish chest patch. The snout is light colored and mobile about 7 cm long. These bears also have a long muzzle with lips that can be closed. They have long white curved, blunt claws and a tail that is approximately 15 cm long. Adult sloth bears usually weigh about 140 kg females being somewhat smaller than the males. They are usually 3 feet high at the shoulder and about 6 feet long.

Habitat and Diet

Sloth bears are found in forested areas and in grasslands, predominantly at lower elevations and so mostly found in the dry zone. They apparently favor drier forests and have been reported to prefer areas with rocky outcrops. Sloth bears are omnivorous and its favorite food is primarily termites and other insects which it snorts and sucks out of termite hills on the ground with a vacuum-cleaner sounding roar that can be heard several hundred yards away. Its diet includes fruits, blooms and honey in its menu.

Behavior

The sloth bear derives its name from a superficial resemblance to tree sloths, which are in fact much smaller mammals of the order Edentata. Adult sloth bears are usually solitary, except during the breeding season. They are mostly nocturnal, feeding and traveling by night and sleeping in the day. They are excellent tree climbers and are often seen hanging from a tree limb like a sloth. The comparatively poor vision and hearing of sloth bears is compensated for by a highly developed sense of smell. They are known to roar, snarl, yelp and even whimper. After mating, there is a period of about 6 to 7 months before the young are born. They are born in earthen dens and stay inside till two or three months old. Mother bears are known to carry their young on their backs, the cubs using the long shaggy fur on their mother's back to hold on to.

Conservation

The Sri Lankan Sloth Bear is highly threatened, with a population of less than 1000 (the wild population may be as few as 500). Destruction of dry-zone natural forest is its main threat, because unlike other large Sri Lankan animals, the Sri Lankan Sloth Bear is highly dependent on natural forests for its food source. Programs such as AZA Bear Advisory Group have made it a high priority to protect the Sri Lankan Sloth Bear.