Sloth Bears

Sloth bears are not sloths!

A zoologist, George Shaw, saw one and thought it was a sloth because of its thick claws and unusual teeth but it's certainly not a slow-moving sloth.

Sloth bears like to climb trees and hang from branches like a sloth, but they don't climb trees to escape from their enemies. They prefer to fight!

The fiesty sloth bear attacks more people than any other bear. They will charge at you if you get too close to them.

Noisy bears

Sloth bears make a lot of noise:

If they are going to fight they bark, scream, grunt, roar or yelp
If they are hurt they shriek, yowl or whimper
If they are eating they make loud huffing and sucking noises - like a vacuum cleaner

Sloth bears love termites

Their favourite food is termites. They smell the termite mounds and scratch with their powerful claws until they get down to the termite tunnels. They blow the dirt away with violent puffs.

Once they find the termites they suck them up noisily. They like grubs too and can smell one a metre under the ground.

Another favourite food is honey.