Editing Sloth bear

{{Short description|Species of bear}}{{Distinguish|Sloth}}{{Use dmy dates|date=January 2020}}
{{Speciesbox
| name = Sloth bear
| fossil_range = Late [[Pliocene]] to Early [[Pleistocene]] – recent
| image = Sloth bear stand.jpg
| image_caption = Standing ''Melursus ursinus''
| status = VU
| status_system = IUCN3.1
| status_ref = <ref name=iucn>{{cite iucn |title=''Melursus ursinus'' |amends=2016 |author=Dharaiya, N. |author2=Bargali, H. S. |author3=Sharp, T. |name-list-style=amp |year=2020 |page=e.T13143A166519315 |doi=10.2305/IUCN.UK.2020-1.RLTS.T13143A166519315.en |access-date=16 January 2022}}</ref>
| status2 = CITES_A1 
| status2_system = CITES 
| status2_ref = <ref name=iucn/>
| display_parents = 2
| genus = Melursus
| parent_authority = [[Bernhard Meyer|Meyer]], 1793
| species = ursinus
| authority = ([[George Shaw (biologist)|Shaw]], 1791)
| synonyms =
*''Bradypus ursinus'' <small>[[George Shaw (biologist)|Shaw]], 1791</small>
*''Melursus lybius'' <small>[[Friedrich Albrecht Anton Meyer|Meyer]], 1793</small>
| range_map  = Sloth Bear area.png
| range_map_caption = Sloth bear range<br/>(black – former, green – extant)
}}

The '''sloth bear''' ('''''Melursus ursinus'''''), also known as the '''Indian bear''', is a [[myrmecophagous]] [[bear]] [[species]] native to the [[Indian subcontinent]]. It feeds on [[fruit]]s, [[ants]] and [[termites]]. It is listed as [[Vulnerable species|vulnerable]] on the [[IUCN Red List]], mainly because of [[habitat loss]] and [[Habitat degradation|degradation]].<ref name=iucn/> It is the only species in the genus '''''Melursus'''''.

It has also been called "labiated bear" because of its long lower lip and palate used for sucking up insects.<ref name="elliott" /> It has long, shaggy fur, a mane around the face, and long, sickle-shaped claws. It is lankier than [[brown bear|brown]] and [[Asian black bear]]s.
It shares features of [[insectivorous]] mammals and evolved during the [[Pleistocene]] from the ancestral brown bear through [[divergent evolution]].

Sloth bears breed during spring and early summer and give birth near the beginning of winter. When their territories are encroached upon by humans, they sometimes attack them. Historically, humans have drastically reduced these bears' habitat and diminished their population by hunting them for food and products such as their [[baculum|bacula]] and claws. Sloth bears have been tamed and used as performing animals and as pets.<ref>[[#Servheen|Servheen]]</ref>

== Taxonomy ==
[[George Shaw (biologist)|George Shaw]] in 1791 [[Scientific name|named]] the species ''Bradypus ursinus''. In 1793, Meyer named it ''Melursus lybius'', and in 1817, [[Henri de Blainville|de Blainville]] named it ''Ursus labiatus'' because of its long lips. [[Johann Karl Wilhelm Illiger|Illiger]] named it ''Prochilus hirsutus'', the Greek genus name indicating long lips, while the specific name noted its long and coarse hair. Fischer called it ''Chondrorhynchus hirsutus'', while [[Friedrich Tiedemann|Tiedemann]] named it ''Ursus longirostris''.<ref>{{cite journal |url= https://archive.org/stream/zoologicalmagazi00owen#page/81/mode/1up |pages=81–85| journal=The Zoological Magazine |issue=3 |title=The Labiated Bear |year=1833|author=Owen, R.}}</ref>

{{clear}}

=== Subspecies and range ===
{| class="wikitable"
|-
!Name!! Description!! Distribution
|-
| valign="top" | Indian sloth bear (''M. u. ursinus'') <small>([[George Shaw (biologist)|Shaw]], 1791)</small><br>
[[File:Bear - Melursus ursinus at Bannerghatta National Park 8469.JPG|frameless]]
| valign="top" | This is the [[nominate subspecies]] and has a large skull with a condylobasal length of about {{convert|290|mm|in|abbr=on}} in females and about {{convert|310|mm|in|abbr=on}} in males.<ref name=Pocock1941>{{cite book |author=Pocock, R. I. |year=1941 |title=The Fauna of British India including Ceylon and Burma |location=London |publisher=Taylor and Francis |volume=2. Carnivora |chapter=''Melursus ursinus'' Shaw. The Sloth Bear |pages=189–200 |chapter-url=https://archive.org/details/in.ernet.dli.2015.19258/page/n213/mode/2up}}</ref>
| valign="top" | The sloth bear is the most widespread bear species in India, where it mostly occurs in areas with forest cover, low hills bordering the outer range of the [[Himalayas]] from [[Punjab (India)|Punjab]] to [[Arunachal Pradesh]]. It is absent in the high mountains of [[Himachal Pradesh]] and [[Jammu and Kashmir (union territory)|Jammu and Kashmir]], the northwestern deserts of [[Rajasthan]], and a broad unforested swath in the south, where [[Mount Abu Wildlife Sanctuary]] is located.<ref name="Negi">{{cite book |last=Negi |first=S. S. |title=Handbook of National Parks, Wildlife Sanctuaries and Biosphere Reserves in India |edition=Third |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=JYFmoOWfmX8C&pg=PA151 |year=2002 |publisher=Indus Publishing |isbn=978-81-7387-128-3 |page=151}}</ref> Sloth bear occurs in protected areas such as [[Shoolpaneshwar Wildlife Sanctuary|Shoolpaneshwar]], [[Ratanmahal Wildlife Sanctuary|Ratanmahal]], [[Jessore Sloth Bear Sanctuary|Jessore]],<ref name="conservation">[[#Servheen|Servheen]], [https://web.archive.org/web/20110723235317/http://wildlife1.wildlifeinformation.org/000ADOBES/Bears/Bears_IUCN_ActionPlan/bearsAP_chapter12.pdf pp. 225–240]</ref> and [[Balaram Ambaji Wildlife Sanctuary|Balaram Ambaji]] Sanctuaries.<ref name="BalaramAmbaji2016A">{{cite web |url=http://gujenvfor.gswan.gov.in/wildlife/national-park/wildlife-balaram.htm |title=Balaram Ambaji Wild Life Sanctuary |publisher=Forests & Environment Department |access-date=8 February 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160120214309/http://gujenvfor.gswan.gov.in/wildlife/national-park/wildlife-balaram.htm |url-status=dead |archive-date=20 January 2016 }}</ref><ref name="BalaramAmbaji2016B">{{cite web |url=http://www.thehindu.com/news/states/sloth-bear-killed-in-gujarat/article17489022.ece |title=Sloth bear killed in Gujarat |website=[[The Hindu]] |access-date=8 February 2016 |archive-date=12 September 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190912144535/https://www.thehindu.com/news/states/sloth-bear-killed-in-gujarat/article17489022.ece |url-status=live }}</ref>
In [[Nepal]], it is restricted to the [[Terai]].<ref>{{cite journal |author1=Joshi, A. R. |name-list-style=amp |author2=Garshelis, D. L. |author3=Smith, L. D. |year=1995 |title=Home ranges of sloth bears in Nepal: Implications for conservation |journal=Journal of Wildlife Management |volume=59 |issue= 2|pages=204–214 |doi=10.2307/3808932 |jstor=3808932 }}</ref>

|-
| valign="top" | [[Sri Lankan sloth bear]] (''M. u. inornatus'') <small>Pucheran, 1855</small><br>[[File:Sri Lankan sloth bear (Melursus ursinus inornatus) male 3.jpg|frameless]]
| valign="top" | The Sri Lankan sloth bear is smaller than the nominate subspecies, has a smaller skull with a condylobasal length of about {{convert|250|mm|in|abbr=on}} in females and about {{convert|264|mm|in|abbr=on}} in males.<ref name=Pocock1941/> It has much shorter body hair, and sometimes lacks the characteristic white chest mark.<ref name="final"/>
| valign="top" | At the turn of the century, the Sri Lankan sloth bear occurred throughout Sri Lanka. But due to wide-scale conversion of upland forests into tea and coffee plantations, it is now restricted to the northern and eastern lowlands.<ref>{{cite journal |author1=Ratnayeke, S. |name-list-style=amp |author2=van Manen, F.T. |author3=Padmalal, U.K.G.K. |year=2007 |title=Landscape characteristics of sloth bear range in Sri Lanka |journal=Ursus  |volume=18 |issue= 2|pages=189–202 |doi= 10.2192/1537-6176(2007)18[189:LCOSBR]2.0.CO;2|s2cid=56031159 |doi-access=free }}</ref>
|}

== Evolution ==
Sloth bears may have reached their current form in the Early [[Pleistocene]], the time when the bear family specialised and dispersed. A fragment of fossilised [[humerus]] from the Pleistocene, found in [[Andhra Pradesh]]'s [[Kurnool Basin]] is identical to the humerus of a modern sloth bear. The fossilised skulls of a bear once named ''Melursus theobaldi'' found in the [[Shivaliks]] from the Early Pleistocene or Early [[Pliocene]] are thought by certain authors to represent an intermediate stage between sloth bears and ancestral brown bears. ''M. theobaldi'' itself had teeth intermediate in size between sloth bears and other bear species, though its palate was the same size as the former species, leading to the theory that it is the sloth bear's direct ancestor. Sloth bears probably arose during the Middle Pliocene and evolved in the Indian subcontinent. The sloth bear shows evidence of having undergone a convergent evolution similar to that of other ant-eating mammals.<ref name="final" />

The sloth bear is one of eight extant species in the [[bear]] family Ursidae and of six extant species in the subfamily [[Ursinae]]. {{Phylogeny/Ursidae}}

== Characteristics ==
[[File:Slothbearskulls.jpg|thumb|Skulls of a Sri Lankan sloth bear (left) and a common sloth bear (right) from the [[Muséum national d'histoire naturelle]]]]

Sloth bears adults are medium-sized bears. The typical weight range for females is from {{cvt|55|to|105|kg}}, and for males is from {{cvt|80|to|145|kg}}. Exceptionally large female specimens can reach {{cvt|124|kg}} and males up to {{cvt|192|kg}}.<ref>{{cite journal |title=Rate of Metabolism in the Termite-Eating Sloth Bear (Ursus ursinus) |author=McNab, Brian K. |journal=Journal of Mammalogy |volume=73 |issue=1 |year=1992 |pages=168–172 |doi=10.2307/1381879|jstor=1381879 }}</ref><ref>{{cite journal |url=http://www.arkive.org/sloth-bear/melursus-ursinus/ |title=Sloth bear videos, photos and facts – Melursus ursinus |journal=Journal of Mammalogy |volume=73 |issue=1 |pages=168–172 |jstor=1381879 |publisher=ARKive |access-date=18 April 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110324183615/http://www.arkive.org/sloth-bear/melursus-ursinus/ |archive-date=24 March 2011 |url-status=dead  |last1=McNab |first1=Brian K. |year=1992 |doi=10.2307/1381879 |url-access=subscription }}</ref><ref name="hadley">{{citation |author=Hadley, B. |url=http://www.iar.org.uk/media/downloads/iar-sloth-bears.pdf |title=The Sloth Bear |publisher=[[Bear Specialist Group]] |date=21 December 2008 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081221085543/http://www.iar.org.uk/media/downloads/iar-sloth-bears.pdf |archive-date=21 December 2008  }}</ref><ref>Johnsingh, A. J. T., & Manjrekar, N. (Eds.). (2013). ''Mammals of South Asia''. Universities Press.</ref> The average weight of sloth bears from the nominate subspecies in [[Nepal]] was {{cvt|95|kg}} in females and {{cvt|114|kg}} in males.<ref>Joshi, A. R., Smith, J. L., & Garshelis, D. L. (1999). ''[https://www.academia.edu/9971477 Sociobiology of the myrmecophagous sloth bear in Nepal] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230210170616/https://www.academia.edu/9971477 |date=10 February 2023 }}''. Canadian Journal of Zoology, 77(11), 1690–1704.</ref> Nominate bears in [[India]] were found to weigh average {{cvt|93.2|kg}} in males and {{cvt|83.3|kg}} in female per one study.<ref>Shanmugam, A. A., Kumar, J. K., Selvaraj, I., & Selvaraj, V. (2008). ''[http://www.jwildlifedis.org/doi/pdf/10.7589/0090-3558-44.2.509 Hematology of sloth bears (Melursus ursinus ursinus) from two locations in India] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230210170616/https://meridian.allenpress.com/jwd |date=10 February 2023 }}''. Journal of wildlife Diseases, 44(2), 509–518.</ref> Specimens from [[Sri Lanka]] (''M. u. inornatus'') may weigh up to {{cvt|68.2|kg}} in females and {{cvt|104.5|kg}} in males.<ref name="deSilva">de Silva Wijeyeratne, G. (2016). ''[https://books.google.com/books?id=OyoXDAAAQBAJ&q=%22sloth+bear%22 Mammals of Sri Lanka] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230210170618/https://books.google.com/books?id=OyoXDAAAQBAJ&printsec=frontcover#v=snippet&q=%22sloth%20bear%22&f=false |date=10 February 2023 }}''. Bloomsbury Publishing.</ref> However six Sri Lankan male sloth bears averaged only {{cvt|74.8|kg}}, and {{cvt|57.5|kg}} was the average for four females, so Sri Lankan bears could be around 30% lighter in body mass than nominate race bears and with more pronounced size sexual dimorphism.<ref name="deSilva" /><ref>Ratnayeke, S., Van Manen, F. T., & Padmalal, U. K. G. K. (2007). ''[http://www.bioone.org/doi/pdf/10.2981/0909-6396(2007)13%5B272%3AHRAHUO%5D2.0.CO%3B2 Home ranges and habitat use of sloth bears Melursus ursinus inornatus in Wasgomuwa National Park, Sri Lanka]''. Wildlife Biology, 13(3), 272–284.</ref> They are {{cvt|60|–|92|cm|ftin}} high at the shoulder, and have a body length of {{cvt|1.4|–|1.9|m|ftin}}.<ref name="brown">[[#Brown|Brown]], "Bear Anatomy and Physiology"</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.theanimalfiles.com/mammals/carnivores/bear_sloth.html |title=Sloth Bear |publisher=The Animal Files |access-date=18 April 2011 |archive-date=29 September 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220929052728/https://www.theanimalfiles.com/mammals/carnivores/bear_sloth.html |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=http://arktofile.net/pages/bear_sloth.html |title=Sloth Bear |publisher=Arktofile.net |access-date=18 April 2011 |archive-date=31 August 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110831143640/http://arktofile.net/pages/bear_sloth.html |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.sandiegozoo.org/animalbytes/t-sloth_bear.html |title=San Diego Zoo's Animal Bytes: Sloth Bear |publisher=Sandiegozoo.org |access-date=18 April 2011 |archive-date=12 June 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130612234502/http://www.sandiegozoo.org/animalbytes/t-sloth_bear.html |url-status=live }}</ref><ref name="Grzimek">Grzimek, B. (1990). ''Grzimeck's Encyclopedia of mammals'' (No. 599.03 G7).</ref> Besides being smaller than males, females reportedly typically have more fur between their shoulders.<ref name="hunt">{{cite book |author=Storey, Harry |title=Hunting and Shooting in Ceylon |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=WOxoRzoD9PsC&pg=PA268 |date=2008 |publisher=Dabney Press |isbn=978-1-4097-2852-8 |pages=268– |access-date=29 October 2016 |archive-date=10 February 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230210170619/https://books.google.com/books?id=WOxoRzoD9PsC&pg=PA268 |url-status=live }}</ref>

Sloth bear muzzles are thick and long, with small jaws and bulbous snouts with wide nostrils. They have long lower lips which can be stretched over the outer edge of their noses, and they lack upper incisors, thus allowing them to suck up large numbers of insects. The premolars and molars are smaller than in other bears, as they do not chew as much vegetation. In adults, the teeth are usually in poor condition, due to the amount of soil they suck up and chew when feeding on insects.<ref name="brown" /> The back of the [[palate]] is long and broad, as is typical in other ant-eating mammals.<ref name="final" /> The paws are disproportionately large, and have highly developed, sickle-shaped, blunt claws which measure {{cvt|4|in|cm|order=flip}} in length. Their toe pads are connected by a hairless web. They have the longest [[tail]] in the bear family, which can grow to {{cvt|6|-|7|in|cm|order=flip}}.<ref name="brown" /> Their back legs are not very strong, though they are knee-jointed, and allow them to assume almost any position.<ref name="hunt" /> The ears are very large and floppy. The sloth bear is the only bear with long hair on its ears.<ref name="conservation"/>

Sloth bear fur is completely black (rusty for some specimens), save for a whitish Y- or V-shaped mark on the chest.<ref name="brown" /> This feature is sometimes absent, particularly in Sri Lankan specimens.<ref name="final">{{cite book |chapter-url=http://home.comcast.net/~cefprice/slothbear/Products/sloth_bear_final.PDF |chapter=Sloth Bear ''Melursus ursinus'' |title=Mammals of South Asia |editor=Johnsingh, A. J. T. |editor2=Manjrekar, N. |author1=Yoganand, K. |author2=Rice, Clifford G. |author3=Johnsingh, A. J. T. |pages=438–456 |volume=1 |isbn=978-8173715907 |publisher=Universities Press (India) |year=2013 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070127053637/http://home.comcast.net/~cefprice/slothbear/Products/sloth_bear_final.PDF|archive-date=27 January 2007}}</ref> This feature, which is also present in Asian black bears and [[sun bear]]s, is thought to serve as a threat display, as all three species are [[sympatric]] with [[tiger]]s (tigers usually do not carry out attacks on an adult bear if the bear is aware or facing the cat).<ref name="final" /> The coat is long, shaggy, and unkempt, despite the relatively warm environment in which the species is found, and is particularly heavy behind the neck and between the shoulders, forming a mane which can be {{cvt|30|cm}} long.<ref name="final" /><ref name="brown" /> The belly and underlegs can be almost bare. Sloth bears are usually about the same size as an [[Asian black bear]] but are immediately distinctive for their shaggier coat, whitish claws, as well as their typically rangier build. Their head and mouth is highly distinct from that of a black bear with a longer, narrower skull shape (particularly the snout), loose-looking, flappier lips and paler muzzle colour. In few areas of overlap, sloth bear confusion with [[sun bear]]s is unlikely, given the latter species considerably smaller size, much shorter fur, wrinkled folding skin (especially around the back), bolder chest marking and drastically different, more compact head structure and appearance.<ref name= Grzimek/><ref name="mel">[http://wildlife1.wildlifeinformation.org/S/0MCarnivor/ursidae/melursus/Melursus_ursinus/Melursus_ursinus.html WildLifeInformation.org] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20091108105759/http://wildlife1.wildlifeinformation.org/S/0MCarnivor/ursidae/melursus/Melursus_ursinus/Melursus_ursinus.html |date=8 November 2009}}, ''Melursus ursinus – Sloth bear''</ref>

== Distribution and habitat ==
[[File:Sri Lankan sloth bear (Melursus ursinus inornatus) male 6.jpg|thumb|Male Sri Lankan sloth bear]]
The sloth bear's global range includes [[India]], the [[Terai]] of [[Nepal]], temperate climatic zones of [[Bhutan]] and [[Sri Lanka]]. It occurs in a wide range of habitats including [[Moist forest|moist]] and [[dry tropical forest]]s, [[savannah]]s, scrublands and [[grassland]]s below {{cvt|1500|m}} on the Indian subcontinent, and below {{cvt|300|m}} in Sri Lanka's [[dry forest]]s. It is [[Local extinction|regionally extinct]] in Bangladesh.<ref name=iucn/>

== 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=187–204|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 24–36 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&nbsp;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=699–707 |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=474–477|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. 226–7</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 – 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, 1–9.</ref><ref>Kurt, F., & Jayasuriya, A. (1968). ''Notes on a dead bear''. Loris, 11, 182–183.</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), 915–920.</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"/>

== Status and conservation ==
The sloth bear is listed in Schedule I of the Indian [[Wildlife Protection Act, 1972]], which provides for its legal protection. Commercial international trade of the sloth bear, including 
parts and derivatives, is prohibited as it is listed in [[CITES Appendix I|Appendix I]] of the [[CITES|Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species]].<ref name=iucn/>

Fewer than 20,000 sloth bears are estimated to survive in the Indian subcontinent and Sri Lanka. To address the human-bear conflict, people may be educated about the conservation ethics, particularly among locals. To resolve this conflict, the basic issue of deteriorating habitat, which is the reason for the conflict between people and bears, improvements through government or community-based reforestation programmes, may be promoted.<ref name=iucn/>
Sloth bears have also been found dead in traps, electrocuted, or killed by other means by poachers, with body parts (i.e. canines, claws, gall bladder, paws, etc) usually removed for the illegal wildlife trade.<ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Gomez |first1=Lalita |last2=Wright |first2=Belinda |last3=Shepherd |first3=Chris R. |last4=Joseph |first4=Tito |date=2021-06-01 |title=An analysis of the illegal bear trade in India |journal=Global Ecology and Conservation |volume=27 |pages=e01552 |doi=10.1016/j.gecco.2021.e01552 |s2cid=233712111 |issn=2351-9894 |doi-access=free |bibcode=2021GEcoC..2701552G}}</ref>
The population of sloth bears grows when they live in high-profile reserves that protect species, such as tigers and elephants. Directly managed reserves could conserve the sloth bear, hence such reserves must be supported.<ref name=arkive>{{Cite web|url=http://www.arkive.org/sloth-bear/melursus-ursinus/info.html|title=Sloth Bear|access-date=14 February 2010|publisher=Arkive: Images of Life on earth|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090406014554/http://www.arkive.org/sloth-bear/melursus-ursinus/info.html|archive-date=6 April 2009|url-status=dead}}</ref> Managing garbage, especially hotel waste with foods, is essential in situations where sloth bears get used to entering towns with an increase in the number of accidental attacks on humans.<ref name=":0"/>

The government of India has banned use of sloth bears for entertainment, and a 'Sloth Bear Welfare Project' in the country has the objective of putting an end to their use for entertainment. However, their number in such activity is still large. Many organisations are helping in the conservation and preservation of sloth bears in safe places. Sloth bears previously used for entertainment are being rehabilitated in facilities like [[Agra Bear Rescue Facility]] run by [[Wildlife SOS]] and others.<ref>{{Cite web|title=Agra Bear Rescue Facility|url=https://wildlifesos.org/locations/agra-bear-rescue-facility/|access-date=5 October 2020|website=wildlifesos.org|archive-date=28 September 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200928150007/https://wildlifesos.org/locations/agra-bear-rescue-facility/|url-status=live}}</ref> Major sloth bear sanctuaries in India include the [[Daroji Sloth Bear Sanctuary]] in Karnataka, and [[Jessore Sloth Bear Sanctuary]] in Gujarat. <ref>{{Cite book|last=Kottur|first=S. |title=Daroji, an ecological destination |publisher=Drongo Media|year=2012|isbn=978-93-5087-269-7|location=Hubli, Karnataka, India}}</ref> A Sloth Bear Conservation Reserve is proposed in [[Mirzapur district]] of Uttar Pradesh.<ref>{{Cite news|title=Sloth bear surprise for experts in Mirzapur forests |url=https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/lucknow/sloth-bear-surprise-for-experts-in-mirzapur-forests/articleshow/70403757.cms |year=2019| work= The Times of India}}</ref>

== Relationships with humans ==

=== Attacks on humans ===
[[File:A fragile co-existence of between sloth bears and humans at Ratanmahal Sloth Bear Sactuary, Dahod, Gujarat, India.jpg|thumb|A fragile co-existence between bears and humans at [[Ratanmahal Sloth Bear Sanctuary]], [[Dahod district]], [[Gujarat]], India]]
Sloth bears are one of the most aggressive extant bears and, due to large human populations often closely surrounding reserves that hold bears, aggressive encounters and attacks are relatively frequent, though in some places, attacks appear to be a reaction to encountering people accidentally.<ref name=":0" /> In absolute numbers, this is the species of bear that most regularly attacks humans. Only the [[Himalayan black bear]] subspecies of Asian black bear is nearly as dangerous.<ref name="Bargali, H. S. 2005">Bargali, H. S., Akhtar, N., & Chauhan, N. P. S. (2005). ''Characteristics of sloth bear attacks and human casualties in North Bilaspur Forest Division, Chhattisgarh, India''. Ursus, 16(2), 263–267.</ref><ref>Quigley, H., & Herrero, S. (2005). ''Characterization and prevention of attacks on humans''. CONSERVATION BIOLOGY SERIES-CAMBRIDGE-, 9, 27.</ref> Sloth bears likely view humans as potential predators, as their reactions to them (roaring, followed by retreat or charging) are similar to those evoked in the presence of tigers and leopards.<ref name="final"/> Their long claws, which are ideally adapted for digging at termite mounds, make adults less capable of climbing trees to escape danger, as are other bears such as Asian black bears. Therefore, sloth bears have seemingly evolved to deal with threats by behaving aggressively. For the same reason, brown bears can be similarly inclined, accounting for the relatively high incidence of seemingly non-predatory aggression towards humans in these two bear species.<ref>[[#Brown|Brown]]</ref>

According to [[Robert Armitage Sterndale]], in his ''Mammalia of India'' (1884, p.&nbsp;62):

{{Blockquote|[The sloth bear] is also more inclined to attack man unprovoked than almost any other animal, and casualties inflicted by it are unfortunately very common, the victim being often terribly disfigured even if not killed, as the bear strikes at the head and face. [[William Thomas Blanford|[William Thomas] Blanford]] was inclined to consider bears more dangerous than tigers...}}

Captain Williamson in his ''Oriental Field Sports'' wrote of how sloth bears rarely killed their human victims outright, but would suck and chew on their limbs till they were reduced to bloody pulps.<ref name="elliott">{{cite book |author=Elliott, A.|year=1868 |title=The forest, the jungle, and the prairie or, Scenes with the trapper and the hunter in many lands |url=https://archive.org/details/forestjungleand00elligoog|publisher= T. Nelson, and Sons |location=Edinburgh; and New York}}</ref> One specimen, known as the [[sloth bear of Mysore]], was responsible for the deaths of 12 people and the mutilation of 24 others. It was shot by [[Kenneth Anderson (writer)|Kenneth Anderson]].<ref name="anderson">{{cite book |author=Anderson, K. |year=1957 |chapter=The Black Bear of Mysore |title=Man Eaters and Jungle Killers |publisher=Allen & Unwin |chapter-url=https://archive.org/details/ManEatersAndJungleKillers |via=archive.org|title-link=Man Eaters and Jungle Killers }}</ref> Although sloth bears have attacked humans, they rarely become [[Man-eating animal|man-eater]]s. Dunbar-Brander's ''Wild Animals of Central India'' mentions a case in which a sow with two cubs began a six-week reign of terror in [[Chandrapur district|Chanda]], a district of the [[Central Provinces and Berar|Central Provinces]], during which more than one of their victims had been eaten,<ref name="attacks">''A Book of Man Eaters'' by Brigadier General R.G. Burton, Mittal Publications</ref> while the sloth bear of Mysore partially ate at least three of its victims.<ref name="anderson"/> R.G. Burton deduced from comparing statistics that sloth bears killed more people than Asian black bears,<ref name="attacks"/> and [[Theodore Roosevelt]] considered them to be more dangerous than [[American black bears]].<ref>Roosevelt, Theodore (1983) ''Ranch Life and the Hunting Trail''. University of Nebraska Press, {{ISBN|0-8032-8913-8}}]</ref> Unlike some other bear species, which at times make mock charges at humans when surprised or frightened without making physical contact, sloth bears frequently appear to initiate a physical attack almost immediately. When people living near an aggressive population of sloth bears were armed with rifles, it was found that it was an ineffective form of defense, since the bear apparently charges and knocks the victim back (often knocking the rifle away) before the human has the chance to defend themself.<ref>Ratnayeke, S., Van Manen, F. T., Pieris, R., & Pragash, V. S. (2014). ''Challenges of large carnivore conservation: sloth bear attacks in Sri Lanka''. Human ecology, 42(3), 467–479.</ref><ref>Patil, S. B., Mody, N. B., Kale, S. M., & Ingole, S. D. (2015). ''A review of 48 patients after bear attacks in Central India: Demographics, management and outcomes''. Indian Journal of Plastic Surgery: Official Publication of the Association of Plastic Surgeons of India, 48(1), 60.</ref> In [[Madhya Pradesh]], sloth bear attacks accounted for the deaths of 48 people and the injuring of 686 others between 1989 and 1994, probably due in part to the density of population and competition for food sources.<ref>{{cite journal|jstor=3783697 |author1=Rajpurohit, K. S.  |author2=Krausman, P. R.  |name-list-style=amp |year=2000|title=Human – sloth-bear conflicts in Madhya Pradesh, India|volume= 28|issue=2|pages=393–9|journal= Wildl. Soc. Bull.}}</ref> A total of 137 attacks (resulting in 11 deaths) occurred between April 1998 and December 2000 in the North Bilaspur Forest Division of [[Chhattisgarh]]. The majority of attacks were perpetrated by single bears, and occurred in kitchen gardens, crop fields, and in adjoining forests during the monsoon season.<ref>{{cite journal|url=http://www.bearbiology.com/fileadmin/tpl/Downloads/URSUS/Vol_16_2/Bargali_Akhtar_16_2_.pdf|title=Characteristics of sloth bear attacks and human casualties in North Bilaspur Forest Division, Chhattisgarh, India|journal=Ursus|year=2005|volume=16|issue=2|pages=263–267|doi=10.2192/1537-6176(2005)016[0263:COSBAA]2.0.CO;2|last1=Bargali|first1=H. S.|last2=Akhtar|first2=Naim|last3=Chauhan|first3=N. P. S.|s2cid=53633653|access-date=27 November 2009|archive-date=3 December 2010|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20101203130546/http://www.bearbiology.com/fileadmin/tpl/Downloads/URSUS/Vol_16_2/Bargali_Akhtar_16_2_.pdf|url-status=live}}</ref> One Mr. Watts Jones wrote a first-hand account of how it feels to be attacked by a sloth bear, recalling when he failed to score a direct hit against a bear he had targeted:

{{Blockquote|I do not know exactly what happened next, neither does my hunter who was with me; but I believe, from the marks in the snow, that in his rush the bear knocked me over backwards in fact, knocked me three or four feet away. When next I remember anything, the bear's weight was on me, and he was biting my leg. He bit two or three times. I felt the flesh crush, but I felt no pain at all. It was rather like having a tooth out with gas. I felt no particular terror, though I thought the bear had got me; but in a hazy sort of way I wondered when he would kill me, and thought what a fool I was to get killed by a stupid beast like a bear. The shikari then very pluckily came up and fired a shot into the bear, and he left me. I felt the weight lift off me, and got up. I did not think I was much hurt. ... The main wound was a flap of flesh torn out of the inside of my left thigh and left hanging. It was fairly deep, and I could see all the muscles working underneath when I lifted it up to clean the wound."<ref>{{cite book |url=https://archive.org/stream/livinganimalsofw01cornrich#page/n7/mode/2up |year=1902 |title=The living animals of the world; a popular natural history with one thousand illustrations |volume=1: Mammals |author=Cornish, C. J.|author-link=Charles John Cornish |author2=Selous, F. C. |author3=Johnston, H. H. |author4=Maxwell, H. |publisher=Dodd, Mead and Company |location=New York}}</ref>}}

In 2016, according to a forest official, a female bear had killed three people, and hurt five others in [[Gujarat]] State's [[Banaskantha district]], near [[Balaram Ambaji Wildlife Sanctuary]], with some of the casualties being colleagues. At first, an attempt was made to trace and cage it, but this failed, costing the life of one official, and so a team of both officials and policemen shot the bear.<ref name="BalaramAmbaji2016B"/>

In Karnataka's [[Bellary district]], most of the attacks by sloth bears occurred outside forests, when they entered settlements and farmlands in search of food and water.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Samad |first1=A. K. S. |last2=Hosetti |first2=B. B. |year=2017 |title=Sloth Bear ''Melursus ursinus'' Human Conflict: A case study of unprotected bear habitat in Kudligi taluk, Ballari district, Karnataka |journal=International Journal of Zoology Studies |volume=2 |issue=6 |pages=255–260 |url=http://www.zoologyjournals.com/download/221/2-6-73-938.pdf |access-date=25 July 2019 |archive-date=18 July 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200718132433/http://www.zoologyjournals.com/download/221/2-6-73-938.pdf |url-status=live }}</ref>

In Mount Abu town in southern Rajasthan, sloth bears attacked people inside towns where they were seeking hotel waste in rubbish bins and encountered people by chance.<ref name=":0" /> Though such attacks were concomitant with increasing tourism activity, quite remarkably, local residents have not retaliated against the sloth bears. The absence of retaliation in many locations of India appears related to cultural norms and the dominant religion Hinduism where nature and animals are worshipped as deities.

=== Hunting and products ===
[[File:Sloth bear hunt.jpg|thumb|Illustration of British officers hunting a bear on horseback]]
One method of hunting sloth bears involved the use of beaters, in which case, a hunter waiting on a post could either shoot the approaching bear through the shoulder or on the white chest mark if it was moving directly to him. Sloth bears are very resistant to body shots, and can charge hunters if wounded, though someone of steady nerves could score a direct hit from within a few paces of a charging bear. Sloth bears were easy to track during the wet season, as their clear footprints could be followed straight to their lairs. The majority of sloth bears killed in forests were due to chance encounters with them during hunts for other game. In hilly or mountainous regions, two methods were used to hunt them there. One was to lie in wait above the bear's lair at dawn and wait for the bear to return from its nocturnal foraging. Another was to rouse them at daytime by firing flares into the cave to draw them out.<ref name="hunt2">{{cite book|author=Russell, C. E. M.|title=Bullet and Shot in Indian Forest, Plain and Hill – With Hints to Beginners in Indian Shooting|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=bWy9B80bA6YC&pg=PA197|date=2008|publisher=Phillips Press|isbn=978-1-4437-6231-1|pages=197–|access-date=29 October 2016|archive-date=10 February 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230210170619/https://books.google.com/books?id=bWy9B80bA6YC&pg=PA197|url-status=live}}</ref> Sloth bears were also occasionally speared on horseback.<ref name="conservation"/> In Sri Lanka, the [[baculum]] of a sloth bear was once used as a charm against barrenness.<ref name="hunt"/>

=== Tameability ===
[[File:Pushkar-bear and handler.jpg|thumb|A bear and its handler in [[Pushkar]]]]
Officers in [[British India]] often kept sloth bears as [[pet]]s.<ref name="india"/> The wife of Kenneth Anderson kept an orphaned sloth bear cub from Mysore, which she named "Bruno". The bear was fed all sorts of things and was very affectionate toward people. It was even taught numerous tricks, such as cradling a woodblock like a baby or pointing a bamboo stick like a gun.[https://ncert.nic.in/ncerts/l/iebe109.pdf]

[[Dancing bear]]s were historically a popular entertainment in India, dating back to the 13th century and the pre-[[Mughal Empire|Mughal]] era. The [[Qalandar (clan)|Kalandar]]s, who practised the tradition of capturing sloth bears for entertainment purposes, were often employed in the courts of Mughal emperors to stage spectacles involving trained bears.<ref name="india"/> They were once common in the towns of [[Calcutta]], where they often disturbed the horses of British officers.<ref name="india"/>

Despite a ban on the practice that was enacted in 1972, as many as 800 dancing bears were in the streets of India during the latter part of the 20th century, particularly on the highway between Delhi, Agra, and Jaipur. Sloth bear cubs, which were usually purchased at the age of six months from traders and poachers, were trained to dance and follow commands through coercive stimuli and starvation. Males were castrated at an early age, and their teeth were knocked out at the age of one year to prevent them from seriously injuring their handlers. The bears were typically fitted with a nose ring attached to a four-foot leash. Some were found to be [[Blindness|blind]] from [[malnutrition]].<ref name="dance">[https://web.archive.org/web/20090302084102/http://www.wildlifesos.org/IBR/Dbears/bdancebody.htm Dancing Bears in India]. wildlifesos.org</ref>

In 2009, following a seven-year campaign by a coalition of Indian and international animal welfare groups, the last Kalandar dancing bear was set free.<ref>{{cite news |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/south_asia/8421867.stm |title=Last Indian dancing bear set free |work=BBC News |date=18 December 2009 |access-date=18 April 2011 |archive-date=5 January 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110105114846/http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/south_asia/8421867.stm |url-status=live }}</ref> The effort to end the practice involved helping the bear handlers find jobs and education, which enabled them to reduce their reliance on dancing-bear income.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.ted.com/talks/kartick_satyanarayan_how_we_rescued_the_dancing_bears.html |title=Katrick Satyanarayan: How we rescued the "dancing" bears |publisher=Ted.com |access-date=18 April 2011 |archive-date=16 July 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110716202408/http://www.ted.com/talks/kartick_satyanarayan_how_we_rescued_the_dancing_bears.html |url-status=live }}</ref>

== Cultural references ==

[[Charles Catton the younger|Charles Catton]] included the bear in his 1788 book ''[[Animals Drawn from Nature and Engraved in Aqua-tinta]]'', describing it as an "animal of the bear-kind" and saying it was properly called the "Petre Bear".<ref>{{cite book|last1=Catton|first1=Charles|title=Animals drawn from Nature and engraved in aqua-tinta|date=1788|publisher=I. and J. Taylor|chapter-url=https://en.wikisource.org/wiki/Animals_drawn_from_Nature_and_engraved_in_aqua-tinta#plate10|chapter=Animal of the bear-kind, Plate 10|access-date=30 November 2017|archive-date=13 April 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170413235717/https://en.wikisource.org/wiki/Animals_drawn_from_Nature_and_engraved_in_aqua-tinta#plate10|url-status=live}}</ref>

In [[Rudyard Kipling]]'s ''[[The Jungle Book]]'', [[Baloo]] "the sleepy old brown bear" teaches [[the Law of the Jungle]] to the wolf cubs of the Seeonee wolf pack, as well as to his most challenging pupil, the "man-cub" [[Mowgli]]. [[Robert Armitage Sterndale]], from whom Kipling derived most of his knowledge of Indian fauna, used the Hindustani word ''bhalu'' for several bear species, though Daniel Karlin, who edited the Penguin Classics reissue of ''The Jungle Book'' in 1989, stated, with the exception of colour, Kipling's descriptions of Baloo are consistent with the sloth bear, as brown bears and Asian black bears do not occur in the [[Seoni]] area where the novel takes place. Also, the name "sloth" can be used in the context of sleepiness. Karlin states, however, that Baloo's diet of ".. only roots and nuts and honey" is a trait more common to the Asian black bear than to the sloth bear.<ref>{{cite book|author1=Kipling, Rudyard|author2=Karlin, Daniel|title=The Jungle Books|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=UrJOKXFEPAwC&pg=PA350|year=1989|publisher=Penguin|isbn=978-0-14-018316-0|pages=350–|access-date=29 October 2016|archive-date=10 February 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230210170620/https://books.google.com/books?id=UrJOKXFEPAwC&pg=PA350|url-status=live}}</ref>

Local names:

* {{langx|as|ভালুক}}, ''bhaluk''
* {{langx|gu|રીંછ}}, ''rīn̄ch''; also ''rinchh''<ref name="india">{{cite book |author=Finn, F. |year=1929 |title=Sterndale's Mammalia of India. A New and Abridged Edition, thoroughly revised and with an Appendix on the Reptilia |location=Calcutta and Simla |publisher=Thacker, Spink & Co |url=https://archive.org/details/mammaliaofindia033244mbp}}</ref>
* {{langx|hi|भालू}}, ''bhālū''; {{langx|hi|रीछ|translit=rīch|label=none}}<ref name="india" />
* {{langx|or|ଭାଲୁ}}, ''bhālu''
* {{langx|bn|শ্লথ ভালুক}}, ''ślath bhaluk''; ''kālō bhāluk''; also ''bhaluk''<ref name="india" />
* {{langx|sa|ऋक्ष}}, ''ṛkṣa''; also ''rikspa''<ref name="india" />
* {{langx|kn|ಕರಡಿ}}, ''karaḍi''; ''kaddi''<ref name="india" />
* {{langx|ta|கரடி}}, ''karaṭi''; ''kaddi''<ref name="india" />
* {{langx|ml|കരടി}}, ''karaṭi''<ref name="india" />
* {{langx|te|ఎలుగుబంటి}}, ''elugubaṇṭi''; also ''elugu''<ref name="india" />
* {{langx|mr|अस्वल}}, ''asval''; also ''aswal''<ref name="india" />
* [[Gondi language|Gond]]: ''yerid'', ''yedjal'' and ''asol''<ref name="india" />
* [[Ho language|Kol]]: ''bana''<ref name="india" />
* [[Kurukh language|Oraon]]: ''bir mendi''<ref name="india" />
* {{langx|si|වලසා}}, ''valasā''; also ''usa''<ref name="india" />
*{{Langx|ne|भालु}}, bhālu
*{{Langx|pa|ਰਿੱਛ}}, ''richh''

== References ==
{{Reflist|30em}}

=== Cited sources ===
* {{cite book |ref=Brown |author=Brown, Gary |year=1993 |title=The Great Bear Almanac |publisher=Lyons & Burford |isbn=1558212108 |url-access=registration |url=https://archive.org/details/greatbearalmanac0000brow }}
* {{cite book |ref=Servheen |author1=Garshelis, D. L. |author2=Joshi, A. R. |author3=Smith, J. L. D. |author4=Rice, C. G. |name-list-style=amp |chapter=Sloth Bear Conservation Action Plan |chapter-url=https://www.researchgate.net/publication/265121830 |editor1=Servheen, C.|editor2=Herrero, S.|editor3=Peyton, B. |year=1999 |title=Bears: Status Survey and Conservation Action Plan |location=Gland, Switzerland |publisher=IUCN/SSC Bear Specialist Group |isbn=2831704626}}

== External links ==
{{Wikispecies|Melursus ursinus}}
{{Commons and category|Melursus ursinus|Melursus ursinus}}
* [https://www.researchgate.net/publication/48376974_The_Status_Survey_and_Conservation_Action_Plan_Bears PDF1]
* [http://www.carnivoreconservation.org/files/actionplans/bears.pdf PDF2]
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20070405004836/http://fieldtripearth.org/div_index.xml?id=12 Field Trip Earth] – Field Trip Earth is a conservation education website operated by the North Carolina Zoological Society.
* [https://animaldiversity.org/site/accounts/information/Melursus_ursinus.html Sloth Bear] at ''Animal Diversity Web''

{{Carnivora|Ca.}}
{{Taxonbar|from=Q145016}}
{{Authority control}}

[[Category:Ursinae|Sloth Bear]]
[[Category:Fauna of South Asia|Sloth Bear]]
[[Category:Mammals of India]]
[[Category:Mammals of Nepal]]
[[Category:Mammals of Sri Lanka]]
[[Category:Myrmecophagous mammals]]
[[Category:Mammals described in 1791]]
[[Category:Taxa named by George Shaw]]