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== Behaviour and ecology == Adult sloth bears may travel in pairs. Males are often observed to be gentle with cubs. They may fight for food. They walk in a slow, shambling motion, with their feet being set down in a noisy, flapping motion. They are capable of galloping faster than running humans.<ref name="brown2">[[#Brown|Brown]], "Bear Behavior and Activities"</ref> Although they appear slow and clumsy, both young and adult sloth bears are excellent climbers.<ref>[[#Servheen|Servheen]], p. 219</ref> They occasionally will climb to feed and to rest, though not to escape enemies, as they prefer to stand their ground. Sloth bear mothers carry their cubs up trees as the primary defense against attacks by predators instead of sending them up trees. The cubs can be threatened by predators such as tigers, leopards, and other bears.<ref>[[#Servheen|Servheen]], p. 226</ref> They are adequate climbers on more accessible trees but cannot climb as quickly or on as varied surfaces as can black bears due to the sloth species' more elongated claw structure. Given their smaller size and still shorter claws, sloth bear cubs probably climb more proficiently than adults (much as brown bear cubs can climb well but not adults).<ref name="brown" /> They are good swimmers, and primarily enter water to play.<ref name="brown" /> To mark their territories, sloth bears scrape trees with their forepaws, and rub against them with their flanks.<ref name="brown2" /> Sloth bears are recorded to produce several sounds and vocals. Howls, squeals, screams, barks and trumpet-like calls are made during aggressive encounters while huffing is made as a warning signal. Chuffing calls are made when disturbed. Females keep in contact with their cubs with a grunt-whicker while cubs yelp when separated.<ref>{{cite journal|author1=Laurie, A.|author2=Seidensticker, J.|year=1977|title=Behavioural ecology of the Sloth bear (''Melursus ursinus'')|journal=Journal of Zoology|volume=182|issue=2|pages=187β204|doi=10.1111/j.1469-7998.1977.tb04155.x|url=https://www.researchgate.net/publication/229976355|access-date=2017-03-26|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170327170117/https://www.researchgate.net/profile/John_Seidensticker/publication/229976355_Behavioural_ecology_of_the_Sloth_bear_Melursus_ursinus/links/53db8a9e0cf2a76fb667a2d1.pdf|archive-date=2017-03-27|url-status=live}}</ref> [[File:Sloth bears playing.jpg|thumb|Sloth bears playing]] [[File:SlothBearTree.jpg|thumb|A Sri Lankan bear in a tree]] === Reproduction === [[File:Sloth bear cubs by Samad Kottur.jpg|thumb|Seven-day-old bear cubs, rescued from a building site where they had been born]] [[File:MelursusUrsinusFemaleCub.jpg|thumb|A mother with a cub on her back at the [[Daroji Sloth Bear Sanctuary]], India]] The breeding season for sloth bears varies according to location: in India, they mate in April, May, and June, and give birth in December and early January, while in Sri Lanka, it occurs all year. Sows gestate for 210 days, and typically give birth in caves or in shelters under boulders. Litters usually consist of one or two cubs, or rarely three.<ref name="brown2"/> Cubs are born blind, and open their eyes after four weeks.<ref name="india"/> Sloth bear cubs develop quickly compared to most other bear species: they start walking a month after birth, become independent at 24β36 months, and become sexually mature at the age of three years. Young cubs ride on their mother's back when she walks, runs, or climbs trees until they reach a third of her size. Individual riding positions are maintained by cubs through fighting. Intervals between litters can last two to three years.<ref name="brown2"/> === Dietary habits === Sloth bears are expert hunters of [[termites]], [[ants]], and [[bee]]s, which they locate by smell.<ref name="brown2"/><ref name=ADW>{{cite web | url=https://animaldiversity.org/accounts/Melursus_ursinus/ | title=Melursus ursinus (Sloth bear) | website=[[Animal Diversity Web]] }}</ref> On arriving at a mound, they scrape at the structure with their claws until they reach the large combs at the bottom of the galleries, and disperse the soil with violent puffs. The termites are then sucked up through the muzzle, producing a sucking sound which can be heard 180 m away.<ref name="india"/> Their sense of smell is strong enough to detect grubs 3 ft below ground. Unlike other bears, they do not congregate in feeding groups.<ref name="brown2"/> Sloth bears may supplement their diets with fruit, plant matter, carrion, and very rarely other mammals. In March and April, they eat the fallen petals of [[mowha]] trees and are partial to [[mango]]es, [[maize]], [[sugar cane]], [[jackfruit]], and the pods of the [[golden shower tree]].<ref name=ADW/> Sloth bears are extremely fond of honey.<ref name="india"/> When feeding their cubs, sows are reported to regurgitate a mixture of half-digested jack fruit, [[Aegle marmelos|wood apples]], and pieces of [[honeycomb]]. This sticky substance hardens into a dark yellow, circular, bread-like mass which is fed to the cubs. This "bear's bread" is considered a delicacy by some of India's natives.<ref name="Anderson">{{cite book | author= Anderson, Kenneth | title=Nine Man-Eaters and One Rogue | year=1954 | page= 131 | publisher=John Culler & Sons |isbn= 1-887269-11-8 }}</ref> Rarely, Sloth bears can become addicted to sweets in hotel waste, visiting rubbish bins, even inside populated towns, all year long.<ref name=":0">{{Cite journal|last1=Prajapati|first1=Utkarsh|last2=Koli|first2=Vijay Kumar|last3=Sundar|first3=K.S. Gopi|date=2021|title=Vulnerable sloth bears are attracted to human food waste: a novel situation in Mount Abu town, India |journal=Oryx|volume= 55|issue=5 |pages=699β707 |doi=10.1017/S0030605320000216 |doi-access=free |s2cid=233677898}}</ref> Their diet includes animal flesh.<ref>{{cite book|title=Wild Animals I Have Met: A Book of Natural History and Thrilling Hunting|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=nA9EAQAAMAAJ&dq=sloth+bear+consume+flesh&pg=PA48|year=1901|author=Frederick H. A. Seymour|publisher=The Ohio State University|quote=Although they generally subsist entirely on vegetable substances and insects, they will occasionally eat flesh.|access-date=30 October 2023|archive-date=14 November 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231114043332/https://books.google.com/books?id=nA9EAQAAMAAJ&dq=sloth+bear+consume+flesh&pg=PA48|url-status=live}}</ref> In Neyyar Wildlife Sanctuary, Kerala, seeds of six tree species eaten and excreted by sloth bears (''Artocarpus hirsuta'', ''A. integrifolia'', ''Cassia fistula'', ''Mangifera indica'', ''Zizyphus oenoplina'') did not see significantly different percentages of germination (appearance of cotyledon) when compared to germinated seeds that had not been passed through the gut of the bears.<ref name=":1">{{Cite journal|last1=Sreekumar|first1=P. G.|last2=Balakrishnan|first2=M.|date=2002|title=Seed dispersal by the Sloth Bear (Melursus ursinus) in South India|journal=Biotropica|volume=34|issue=3|pages=474β477|doi=10.1111/j.1744-7429.2002.tb00564.x|bibcode=2002Biotr..34..474S |s2cid=247666325 }}</ref> However, seeds germinated much faster after being ingested by bears for three species, ''Artocarpus hirsuta, Cassia fistula,'' and ''Zizyphus oenoplina''. This experiment suggests that sloth bears may play an important role in seed dispersal and germination, with effects varying by tree species.<ref name=":1" /> === Relationships with other animals === The large canine teeth of sloth bears, relative to both its overall body size and to the size of the canine teeth of other bear species, and the aggressive disposition of sloth bears, may be a defense in interactions with large, dangerous animals, such as the [[tiger]], [[elephant]], and [[rhinoceros]], as well as prehistoric species such as [[Megantereon]].<ref>[[#Servheen|Servheen]], pp. 226β7</ref> [[Bengal tiger]]s occasionally prey on sloth bears. Tigers usually give sloth bears a wide berth, though some specimens may become habitual bear killers,<ref name="DHOLE">{{cite book |author=Mills, Stephen |title=Tiger |year=2004 |page=168 |isbn=1-55297-949-0 |publisher=Firefly Books |location=Richmond Hill, Ontario}}</ref> and it is not uncommon to find sloth bear fur in tiger scats.<ref>[https://web.archive.org/web/20090313110305/http://web.me.com/dattatri/shekardattatri/wow_moments.html Tigers eat sloth bears, don't they?]</ref> Tigers typically hunt sloth bears by waiting for them near termite mounds, then creeping behind them and seizing them by the back of their necks and forcing them to the ground with their weight.<ref name="perry"/> One tiger was reported to simply break its victim's back with its paw, then wait for the paralysed bear to exhaust itself trying to escape before going in for the kill.<ref name="DHOLE"/> When confronted by tigers face to face, sloth bears charge at them, crying loudly. A young or already sated tiger usually retreats from an assertive sloth bear, as the bear's claws can inflict serious wounds, and most tigers end the hunt if the bears become aware of the tiger's presence before the pounce.<ref name="perry"/> Sloth bears may scavenge on tiger kills.<ref>Schaller, George B. (1984) ''The Deer and the Tiger: A Study of Wildlife in India'', Midway Reprint, [[University of Chicago Press]], {{ISBN|0-226-73631-8}}</ref> As tigers are known to mimic the calls of [[sambar deer]] to attract them, sloth bears react fearfully even to the sounds made by deer themselves.<ref name="perry">{{cite book |author=Perry, Richard |title=The World of the Tiger |year=1965 |page=260 |id=ASIN: B0007DU2IU}}</ref> In 2011, a female bear with cubs was observed to stand her ground and prevail in a confrontation against two tigers (one female, one male) in rapid succession.<ref>[http://www.dickysingh.com/2011/04/bear-tiger-confrontation-10-pics-that-tell-a-story/ Bear Tiger confrontation β 10 pics that tell a story] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110827112158/http://www.dickysingh.com/2011/04/bear-tiger-confrontation-10-pics-that-tell-a-story/ |date=27 August 2011 }}. Dickysingh.com (10 April 2011). Retrieved on 26 September 2011.</ref> Besides tigers there are few predators of sloth bears. [[Leopard]]s can also be a threat, as they are able to follow sloth bears up trees.<ref name="hadley"/> Bear cubs are probably far more vulnerable and healthy adult bears may be avoided by leopards. One leopard killed a three-quarters grown female sloth bear in an apparently lengthy fight that culminated in the trees. Apparently, a sloth bear killed a leopard in a confrontation in [[Yala National Park]], [[Sri Lanka]], but was itself badly injured in the fight and was subsequently put down by park rangers.<ref>Baskaran, N., Sivaganesan, N., & Krishnamoorthy, J. (1997). ''Food habits of sloth bear in Mudumalai wildlife sanctuary, Tamil Nadu, southern India''. JOURNAL-BOMBAY NATURAL HISTORY SOCIETY, 94, 1β9.</ref><ref>Kurt, F., & Jayasuriya, A. (1968). ''Notes on a dead bear''. Loris, 11, 182β183.</ref> Sloth bears occasionally chase leopards from their kills.<ref name="brown2"/> [[Dhole]] [[pack (canine)|packs]] may attack sloth bears.<ref name="fox">{{cite book | author= Fox, Michael W. | title= The Whistling Hunters: Field Studies of the Asiatic Wild Dog (Cuon Alpinus) | year= 1984 | page= 150 | isbn= 0-87395-843-8 | publisher= State University of New York Press | location= Albany | url= https://books.google.com/books?id=V8qMs6x-PhUC&q=sloth+bear | access-date= 28 October 2020 | archive-date= 10 February 2023 | archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20230210170619/https://books.google.com/books?id=V8qMs6x-PhUC&q=sloth+bear | url-status= live }}</ref> When attacking them, dholes try to prevent the bear from retreating into caves.<ref>Tiwari, S.K. (1999) ''Animal Kingdom of the World'', Sarup & Sons, {{ISBN|81-7625-071-6}}</ref> Unlike tigers which prey on sloth bears of all size, there is little evidence that dholes are a threat to fully-grown sloth bears other than exceptionally rare cases.<ref name= Grzimek/><ref>Gopal, R. (1991). ''[http://www.indianforester.co.in/index.php/indianforester/article/view/8733 Ethological observations on the sloth bear (Melursus ursinus)] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170706163202/http://www.indianforester.co.in/index.php/indianforester/article/view/8733 |date=6 July 2017 }}''. Indian Forester, 117(10), 915β920.</ref> In one case, a [[golden jackal]] (a species much smaller and less powerful than a sloth bear and not generally a pack hunter as is the dhole) was seen to aggressively displace an adult bear which passively loped away from the snapping canid, indicating the sloth bear does not regard other carnivores as competition.<ref name="hadley"/> Sloth bears are [[sympatric]] with [[Asiatic black bear]]s in northern India, and the two species, along with the [[sun bear]], coexist in some of the national parks and wildlife sanctuaries. They are also found together in Assam, Manipur, and Mizoram, in the hills south of the [[Brahmaputra River]], the only places occupied by all three bear species. The three species do not act aggressively toward each other. This may be because the three species generally differ in habit and dietary preferences.<ref name="hadley"/> [[Asian elephant]]s apparently do not tolerate sloth bears in their vicinity. The reason for this is unknown, as individual elephants known to maintain their composure near tigers have been reported to charge bears.<ref name="india"/> The [[Indian rhinoceros]] has a similar intolerance for sloth bears, and will charge at them.<ref name="brown2"/>
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