Sloth
Bear Conservation & ScienceSloth Bears (Melursus ursinus)
Listen now
You might hear Asia Trail's sloth bears before
you see them. When the shaggy bears dig up insect nests
with their three-inch-long claws, they become living
vacuums. By closing their nostrils, they can suck up
ants and termites with their long lips, making a loud
"kerflump" noise in the process.
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| Sloth bears use their long snouts to raid ant and termite nests. (Jessie Cohen/NZP) |
You'll also have plenty of opportunities to watch the bears in action. Through the sloth bear habitat's clear glass walls, you may see young Balawat riding on his mother's back, or male Merlin exploring waterfalls, pools, and rocky outcrops. If you're visiting at feeding time, take a seat at the Sloth Bear Amphitheater, and watch while keepers place grapes and other snacks in small openings in the glass and the bears suck the food through the other side.
The Sloth Bear Conservation Plaza highlights the important conservation efforts of people living in India and Nepal. Check out a biogas stove, which is fueled by animal dung rather than wood harvested from local forests, or read about literacy and conservation programs that empower women to save habitat in Nepal. Beautiful photography depicts life in an Indian village and shows how conservationists are working with Indian farmers to reduce overgrazing by cattle.
A large, hands-on topographic map spotlights some inspiring changes taking place in the Terai Arc, a region in the foothills of the Himalayas that stretches 620 miles along the border of Nepal and India. The Terai Arc was once an ideal home for sloth bears and many other species. But as human populations increased and people converted forests for agriculture, the animals' habitat became fragmented. Now, conservationists are restoring patches of forest so that wildlife can travel safely between the Terai Arc's 12 protected parks.
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| Female sloth bear Hana and her cub, Balawat. (Jessie Cohen/NZP) |
Not everyone agrees about how to conserve wild lands and wildlife. The interactive Decision Station introduces you to some of the real-life challenges of saving sloth bears in India. Using the touch screen, try your hand at making these difficult choices, and find out how your decisions affect sloth bears and people.
National Zoo scientists are committed to sloth bear conservation despite numerous challenges, as they have been for decades. Their work began in the 1970s, when a Zoo scientist participated in the first study of sloth bears in the wild, and continues today in field studies conducted by Zoo scientists and their partners. Some of these scientists describe what motivates them at the Sloth Bear Conservation Plaza, where artifacts from their research trips are also on display.
Get to Know Sloth Bears
- The IUCN lists sloth bears as vulnerable. Agriculture, livestock, and logging infringe on their habitat, and they are hunted for use in traditional medicines. In India, some are made to perform as "dancing" bears.
- Sloth bears can close their nostrils so they can suck insects through their mouths like a vacuum.
- No other bear species carries its young on its back as sloth bears do.
- Sloth bears' long, shaggy coats protect them from insect stings, and their nearly furless noses don't get gummed up by the sticky defensive secretions of termites.
- Despite their name, sloth bears are not related to sloths, nor are they slow: They can easily outrun a person.
- Sloth bears have three-inch-long, curved claws perfect for digging into insect nests.
- Baloo, the lovable bear in Rudyard Kipling's The Jungle Book, may be modeled after a sloth bear.
ZooGoer 35(5) 2006. Copyright 2006 Friends of the National Zoo. All rights reserved.
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