How can people across the Indian Subcontinent prevent fatal encounters with sloth bears? Learn from species’ behaviour towards tigers, advise scientists
- August 1, 2024
- Posted by: OptimizeIAS Team
- Category: DPN Topics
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How can people across the Indian Subcontinent prevent fatal encounters with sloth bears? Learn from species’ behaviour towards tigers, advise scientists
Sub: Env
Sec: Species in news
Sloth Bear:
- The sloth bear, also known as the Indian bear, is native to the Indian subcontinent and is the only species in the genus Melursus.
- This myrmecophagous bear primarily feeds on fruits, ants, and termites.
- It is listed as vulnerable on the IUCN Red List due to habitat loss and degradation.
Physical Characteristics and Evolution:
- The sloth bear is also referred to as the “labiated bear” because of its long lower lip and palate, which it uses for sucking up insects.
- It has distinctive features, including long, shaggy fur, a mane around the face, and long, sickle-shaped claws.
- The species is lankier than brown and Asian black bears and shares characteristics with insectivorous mammals, having evolved from an ancestral brown bear during the Pleistocene through divergent evolution.
Breeding and Interaction with Humans
- Sloth bears breed in the spring and early summer, with births occurring near the beginning of winter.
- Historically, the sloth bear’s habitat has been significantly reduced, and their population diminished due to hunting for food and products like bacula and claws.
- Sloth bears have also been tamed and used as performing animals and pets.
Sloth Bear Characteristics and Aggressiveness:
- Despite having a diet similar to the largely non-aggressive giant pandas, sloth bears are notably aggressive, with around 7-8% of their attacks on humans being fatal, compared to 14% for global brown bear attacks.
- Its aggressive behaviour is attributed to its evolutionary history alongside now-extinct predators and the existing Bengal tiger.
Evolutionary Defense Mechanisms:
- Sloth bears exhibit aggressive defensive behaviour towards tigers, which are a significant threat. They are known to charge at tigers, a strategy that has been successful in deterring attacks, with 86% of observed interactions ending without physical contact.
- The bear’s physical adaptations, including long, blunt claws suited for digging rather than climbing, limit their escape options, reinforcing their aggressive defence strategy.
Source: DTE