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Sloth Bear
Sloth Bear
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Sloth Bear
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Behaviour,
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From Wiki: Sloth bears may have reached their current form in the early Pleistocene, the time when the bear family specialized and dispersed. A fragment of fossilized humerus from the Pleistocene, found in Andhra Pradesh's Kurnool Basin is identical to the humerus of a modern sloth bear. The fossilized skulls of a bear once named [i]Melursus theobaldi[/i] 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. [i]M. theobaldi[/i] 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 mid-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.
A sloth bear named Buddhu a lived for a few years at Juli Kisan's home in Lakhapada, Odisha. The young bear was born wild, probably orphaned & one day wandered into the village by following a herd of goats. He never left & had lived with the family ever since.
 *This image is copyright of its original author  *This image is copyright of its original author  *This image is copyright of its original author  *This image is copyright of its original author He was rescued for rehabilitation from the family by wildlife officials in August, 2012...
Rescued? Could he possibly be any happier than he appears in these pictures?
(03-05-2018, 11:50 AM)brotherbear Wrote: Rescued? Could he possibly be any happier than he appears in these pictures? Well, it was bit of a dilemma! But the thing is, India has a long history of Sloth bears being used as dancing bears by street entertainers. Bears' cubs were stolen from there mothers & sold on black market... followed by a life of servitude (in some cases torture)!  *This image is copyright of its original author As a result, the Indian laws against keeping them have become very strict & exceptions aren't made. Also he was not fully grown. As we'd rehabilitated a LOT of such bears, the infrastructure is there. He could use some company of his own kind. His progeny might even get rewilded someday...  *This image is copyright of its original author  *This image is copyright of its original author  *This image is copyright of its original author  *This image is copyright of its original author As a compromise, his "parents" were given jobs at the facility I think.
I have just finished reading numerous descriptions of sloth bear behavior as related to aggression. It appears that there are two opposite opinions on this subject. One side claims the sloth bear to be perhaps the world's most aggressive bear. This because, unlike other tree-climbing bear species, the sloth bear prefers to stand his ground against enemies such as leopard or even tiger. Also because each year there are serious human injuries and even death due to sloth bear attacks.
The other side claims that the sloth bear is not normally aggressive. His survival strategy to fight rather than flee up a tree is simply a different survival strategy that most often works unless ambushed from behind. As for people being attacked, sloth bears are very noisy feeders and are thus easily taken by surprise. Their eye-site and hearing are poor ( according to a few articles I read ). Their Peripheral [b]vision is extremely poor. [/b]  (03-10-2018, 06:26 PM)brotherbear Wrote: I have just finished reading numerous descriptions of sloth bear behavior as related to aggression. It appears that there are two opposite opinions on this subject. One side claims the sloth bear to be perhaps the world's most aggressive bear. This because, unlike other tree-climbing bear species, the sloth bear prefers to stand his ground against enemies such as leopard or even tiger. Also because each year there are serious human injuries and even death due to sloth bear attacks. One of the reasons for the numerous attacks on humans as long as I know is the fact that sloth bears are used to sleep very DEEP on the ground and often don't hear approaching man or animal until the very last moment when they are critically close to the napping bear and it has no choise but to attack. The fact that sloth bear sleep deep on the ground (not on the tree) in the jungles infested with large and deadly predators shows that this animal is very self-confident and trust to its own fighting abilities. It has survived for many thousand years in probably the most dangerous wild habitat in the planet - jungles of Hindustan, infested with tigers, lions, panthers, dholes, wolves, hyenas etc. Surviving of such a relatively small animal weighting on average only 120 kg in this habitat is a real heroism. Actually I don't believe that sloth bear could survive between Indian lions. If the lion was a solitary cat as the tiger - no problem. But chances for bear (any bear) to survive among lion prides are close to zero. That's why in Gir forest there are no sloth bears (we discussed on this topic with Rishi-boy last year). Even a combination of only 2 lionesses attacking from both sides should be deadly for the bear. (03-11-2018, 09:17 AM)Wolverine Wrote:(03-10-2018, 06:26 PM)brotherbear Wrote: I have just finished reading numerous descriptions of sloth bear behavior as related to aggression. It appears that there are two opposite opinions on this subject. One side claims the sloth bear to be perhaps the world's most aggressive bear. This because, unlike other tree-climbing bear species, the sloth bear prefers to stand his ground against enemies such as leopard or even tiger. Also because each year there are serious human injuries and even death due to sloth bear attacks. I posted my reply on topic: Bear and Big Cat interactions in the wild.
http://www.theanimalfiles.com/mammals/ca...r_sun.html
Sun Bears have loose skin which enables them to turn around and defend themselves against predators. They are very aggressive bears, probably the most aggressive, and they will attack without being provoked. *Another contender for the title of "most aggressive bear". 
Book Bears of the World - Lance Craighead
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The question has often been asked, why does the sloth bear stand his ground when he could scurry up a tree like a sun bear or a black bear? Perhaps it is simply habit inherited from his ancestors.
Quote from Wiki: The fossilized 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. (04-08-2018, 04:08 PM)brotherbear Wrote: The question has often been asked, why does the sloth bear stand his ground when he could scurry up a tree like a sun bear or a black bear? Perhaps it is simply habit inherited from his ancestors. They're known to do so, but maybe not very often. Probably because they're classic prey, meaning they get ambushed a lot. Most of the cases there won't be enough time to climb. And they can be as heavy as 200kg, meaning it can't go to a place its predator can't reach. When their lives depend on it, maintaining a reputation for aggressiveness & well-played bluffs can be a better bet... & that's what they're hardwired to do! |
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