Reproduction

Mating takes place during June and July. They have a gestation period of six to seven months.

A female will dig a burrow or find a natural hollow where they can give birth to her cubs. An average of two cubs are born though three is possible.

Cubs spend the first 2-3 months of their life in the den before being carried on mom's back for a further six months. This habit helps to reduce the chances of predators taking the young.

Independence is not reached until 2 years old. Due to this females only produce cubs once evert two to three years.

Almost half of all cubs will not make adulthood.

Sexual maturity is reached between 3 and 5 years old.

Behavior

Sloth bears are rather fast and can exceed the speed of a human.

Outside of the breeding season the sloth bear will be solitary. Despite this they do show a tolerance to others entering their territory.

They have the ability to stand just on their back two legs. This was originally thought to just be a defensive behavior but can also be used for gaining a better view of their surrounds and smell for food.

As with many animals which feed primarily on ants and termites they have rather small home ranges.

Sloth bears are primarily active by night or at dawn and dusk. This allows them to escape the high temperatures in much of their range.

During the day time they will seek shelter in a rocky outcrop, thicket or tree cavity.

Unlike bears found in colder climate areas the sloth bear will not enter a period of hibernation instead being active year round. Some exhibit a short period of inactivity during the rainy season.

Sloth bears produce few vocalizations but if threatened can let out a loud roar.

Predators and Threats

Sloth bears have only two natural predators which have been recorded, the tiger and leopards. They have shown an ability to ward off tigers which try to attack them.

When threatened the sloth bear will stand up and show off its large claws.

The population of sloth bears is declining according to the International Union for the Conservation of Nature. A rough estimate of the population places it around 20,000 but no formal study has been conducted on this.

Humans have severely affected their population through habitat loss and degradation, retaliatory killings following human-bear conflict and poaching.

Some poaching occurs to fuel the traditional medicine and captivity trades.

Many of the bears which are poached are used in dancing bear shows. Often a mother is killed to take the cubs and these are then subjected to a painful procedure to place a rope through the muzzle which is used to induce a 'dancing behavior' from the bear on demand. These displays have existed since the Mughal area but have thankfully been reduced in recent history.

Quick facts

They are also known as the Stickney bear or labiated bear.

Two subspecies of the sloth bear are recognized. These are the Indian sloth bear Ursus ursinus ursinus, Sri Lankan sloth bear Ursus ursinus inornatus.

Their name, sloth bear, came from observations made when the species was first recorded for science by George Shaw in 1791. They were seen hanging upside down in a tree similar to a sloth and initially named the bear sloth.