Sloth bear (Melursus ursinus), Sri Lanka.
Image: Charles J. Sharp, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons.
At a glance
- IUCN category
- VU · Vulnerable
- Animal group
- Mammals
- Population trend
- Decreasing
- FaunaHub record reviewed
- Checked against IUCN
- Matches source — IUCN's 2020 global assessment of Melursus ursinus says VulnerableChecked 2026-10-09 against IUCN's Red List export published 2026-07-28 · assessment
Conservation overview
The sloth bear is a shaggy, insect-eating bear of South Asia with a long muzzle and pale chest mark. It is assessed as Vulnerable.
It noisily sucks up ants and termites through a gap in its front teeth.
Range & habitat
Forests and grasslands of the Indian subcontinent.
Major threats
Threats below are drawn from the authoritative sources listed on this page. For the current, complete assessment, see the IUCN Red List.
- Habitat loss and fragmentation
- Human-bear conflict
- Poaching and past capture for performance
Why it matters
A specialised insect-eating bear of the Indian subcontinent, the sloth bear is a flagship for South Asian forests and for reducing dangerous human-bear conflict.
Gallery
Sloth bear (Melursus ursinus).
Image: Charles J. Sharp, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons.
Sources
Sources for Sloth Bear
- IUCN Red List — look up Sloth Bear (authoritative status)
- Animal Diversity Web