Hence, the sloth bears have adapted to fight off tigers by evolving an aggressive behavior towards the latter. Neither can these bears outpace tigers nor can they climb trees quickly enough to escape tigers. A unique aspect of the sloth bears is that they can sometimes fight off tigers. However, adult sloth bears may be seen traveling in pairs and female sloth bears may stick around with their cubs. Sloth bears are primarily solitary animals that live by themselves and hunt for food alone at night. However, sloth bears mostly prefer rocky outcrops and drier forests with an abundance of trees to provide shelter. The habitat of sloth bears may also include savannahs and scrublands. Sloth bears primarily live in tropical grasslands and forested areas, which include both moist and dry forests. Sloth bears are widespread in the forest covers on the outer range of the Himalayas but are absent in the mountainous regions of Jammu and Kashmir, Himachal Pradesh, and the unforested desert areas of Rajasthan. In India, the habitat of sloth bears mainly comprises grasslands below 4,921 ft (1,500 m) and in the dry forests of Sri Lanka, they inhabit regions with elevation lower than 984 ft (300 m).
Historically, the sloth bears were also found further up in Bhutan and Nepal but now they are locally extinct in Bhutan. The sloth bears' habitat is spread throughout India and parts of Sri Lanka. But, the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) lists them as a Vulnerable species with a declining population. There is no reliable population survey data to indicate the exact number of sloth bears present in the world. How many Sloth Bears are there in the world? Sloth bears belong to the class Mammalia, that is, they are mammals. What class of animal does a Sloth Bear belong to? Sloth bears are a species of bear native to the subcontinent of India. If you like this article, do check out the fun and interesting animal facts about Asiatic black bear and brown bear too.įamily Ursidae Sloth Bear Interesting Facts What type of animal is a Sloth Bear? Read on to know more about the sloth bear's habitat, lifestyle, diet, and behavior. Found in the forests of South Asia, particularly India and Sri Lanka, these reclusive animals with long claws mostly feed on termites and ants and have the ability to climb trees. The sloth bear species are unkempt and dusty with a shaggy coat.
But the name 'sloth bear' lived on as a major scientific blunder. However, it was later determined that the sloth bears are actually bears of the family Ursidae and consequently, the scientific classification had to be changed. Shaw did not stop at giving the sloth bears a common name but also went on to assigning them a scientific name, Bradypus ursinus, and placed them in the sloth family. He based his conclusion on two observations first, the sloth bears have long, curved claws like the three-toed long claws of the sloths and secondly, both sloths and sloth bears have their two front teeth missing. So, how did they get the name 'sloth bear'? Well, the credit goes to an 18th-century European zoologist George Shaw who 'thought' that the sloth bears were not bears but sloths. The term ' sloth' means 'laziness.' However, the sloth bear species is in no way related to the sloths, the lethargic mammals found in the tropical rainforests of Central and South America. It has two subspecies - Melursus ursinus ursinus (the Indian sloth bear) widespread in the forests of India and Melursus ursinus inornatus (the Sri Lankan sloth bear) found in the eastern and northern lowlands of Sri Lanka. The sloth bear (Melursus ursinus) is a bear species native to the Indian subcontinent.
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