< > CONSERVATION STATUS with literature reports for the Sloth bear - Melursus ursinus: Use sub-contents list below, or simply scroll down the page to view findings.

CONSERVATION / PEST STATUS - Editorial Comment

Editorial Comment

WILD POPULATION - IMPORTANCE:

• Sloth bears are vulnerable; their total population is probably less than 20,000.

GENERAL LEGISLATION: --

CITES LISTING: Appendix I.

RED-DATA LIST STATUS: Vulnerable. 

THREATS: The sloth bear is threatened by human disturbance and habitat loss, hunting (for body parts, also due to crop damage and because it is considered dangerous) and capture of cubs for use as "dancing bears" in India. Bears that attack or threaten to attack people may be destroyed.

PEST STATUS / PEST POPULATIONS: These bears sometimes damage crops, particularly where habitat degradation has reduced the availability of natural foods. They may attach humans when they are encountered unexpectedly, for example in fields at night. In parts of India, encounters between people and sloth bears have led to numerous human injuries and many deaths. Such incidents tend to occur where people frequently use bear habitat, and where the habitat has thus become severely degraded.

CAPTIVE POPULATIONS: There are more than 70 sloth bears registered in zoos worldwide, but there are more in collections in India.

TRADE AND USE: In India, these bears are sometimes used as "dancing bears." Body parts are used as alleged medicines, for food and as decorations.

For more information see: B442: Bears. Status Survey and Conservation Action Plan - full text provided

Wild Population - Importance

Source Information

• Total population estimated in 1994 to be 7,500 - 10,000. (B147)
• Vulnerable. (B285.w4)
• Population unknown, considered threatened. (B144)
• In general, populations outside protected areas are declining. They and their habitats need to be protected. (B435.w1)
•  In India there is still a large (about 10,000 individuals) population over about 250,000 square kilometres of habitat. Unfortunately this habitat is discontinuous and in many areas is highly disturbed. They are found throughout peninsular India north to the Himalayan foothills, in most low-altitude non-arid areas with remaining forest cover. The two strongholds are the forests of Western Ghats and the Central Indian Highlands. [2003](J178.100.w1)
• The total population size of sloth bears is probably less than 20,000 [2007]. (V.w98)

General Legislation

Source Information

• India: protected under Schedule I of the Indian Wildlife (Protection) Act of 1972. (B435.w1)
• Sri Lanka: protected under the Fauna and Flora Protection Ordinance. (B435.w1)
• Nepal: can be legally hunted with a licence. (B435.w1)

CITES Listing

Source Information

Red-Data List Status

Source Information

Threats

Source Information

• Extensively hunted due to being thought dangerous, and because it sometimes damages crops. (B147)
• Intolerant of human disturbance. (B147)
• Loss of habitat to logging, agriculture, settlement and hydroelectric projects. (B147)
• Killing for gallbladder and other body parts for alleged medicines, food and for decorations. (B147)
• Capture for use as dancing bears in India. (B285.w4)
• Sloth bears are threatened by: (B435.w1)
  • poaching for trade of body parts, particularly gall bladders;
  • cubs being stolen for use as performing bears;
  • persecution by rural residents;
  • loss and degradation of habitat. 

  (B435.w1)

• In India, sloth bears are threatened by poaching, mainly for gall bladders and other body parts. Bears, mainly cubs (after the mother has been killed), are captured live, to be used as "street bears" for entertainment; some are exported from India to Pakistan to be used for bear baiting. Bears also sometimes killed as nuisances. (B442.12.w12)

• In India, the main threats are habitat degradation and fragmentation, poaching for gall bladders, human-bear conflicts and stealing of cubs (which requires killing the mother) for training as "performing bears". Stringent control of poaching and illegal bear-parts trade is needed for conservation. [2003] (J178.100.w1)

• Habitat loss is a serious threat; populations are becoming fragmented as forested areas outside reserves and parks are lost, and the remaining populations may be too small to be viable. (B442.12.w12)

• Habitat degradation outside protected areas results in reduced available food for the bears, which then may be more likely to eat human associated foods such as sugarcane. (B442.12.w12)

• A study in Madhya Pradesh, India, April 1989-March 1994 documented 735 human casualties of human-sloth bear conflicts, with 48 fatalities. Most fatalities occurred within forests during April to October. It was noted that many bear foods were of low availability to the bears due to collection by local villagers. (J59.28.w1)

• Bears in the Pendra and Marwahi administrative ranges of the North Bilaspur Forest Division, India are threatened by disturbance and forest degradation, and further disturbance by people collecting forest products which are food items required by the bears. There are also pressures from grazing livestock and associated disturbance and vegetation degradation, and loss of forest as trees are cut for fuel and timber. (N25.33.w1)

• In Nepal, the main threat to bears is habitat loss, due to encroachment by the increasing human population. Poaching may also be a problem. (N25.25.w1)

Pest Status / Pest Populations

Source Information

• Sloth bears come into conflict with rural residents when the bears raid crops, then people extract forest resources such as fruits and honey, when humans destroy and degrade forest habitats used by bears, and when bears and humans encounter one another in the forest, which often leads to the bear attacking.
• In some areas crop depredations by bears can be serious. (B442.12.w12)
  • Habitat degradation reduces available natural foods; bears may then eat cultivated crops. (B442.12.w12)
  • Bears forced to rely on crops become more nocturnal and more people entering fields at night are mauled by bears. (B442.12.w12)
• A study in disturbed, unprotected areas of Madhya Pradesh, India, found that sloth bears living near human settlements and degraded habitat were reliant on crop field near villages for food during the winter and monsoon, due to the early age classes of the fruit trees in the forests and the consequent low fruit availability in the forests, together with harvesting of fruits and flowers by villagers. This may have been a major reason for the frequent human-bear encounters near villages, and associated maulings of humans. (J345.15.w2)
• A study in Madhya Pradesh, India, April 1989-March 1994 documented 735 human casualties of human-sloth bear conflicts, with 48 fatalities. Most fatalities occurred within forests during April to October. (J59.28.w1)
• In the North Bilaspur Forest Division, India, a study found that from April 1998 to December 2000, there were 137 attacks on humans by bears, with 11 fatalities. Most (54%) occurred during he monsoon season and 45% occurred in the early morning hours (0400-0800). Attacks occurred in kitchen gardens, crop fields and adjoining forests. Most incidents (56%) involved a single bear but 20% involved two bears and 21% three bears. Attacks usually (93%) were by a single bear. (J345.16.w1)
• A study of the Pendra and Marwahi administrative ranges of the North Bilaspur Forest Division, India found that most attacks by bears occurred while people were collecting forest products, walking in the forest, tending cattle or collecting firewood. in the forests. Attacks were mainly (53%0 in the forest, but also occurred in crop fields and villages. Most attacks occurred in the morning, followed by in the evening. Bears from sites which are surrounded b fields and human settlements raid agricultural crops such as maize, groundnut and fruit trees, and aggressive encounters with humans occur. (N25.33.w1)
• Attacks on humans are common throughout the bear's range. When encountering humans at close range, they react as to other predators: roar and run away, or roar and attack then retreat. (J178.100.w1)

Captive Populations

Source Information

• The 2003 International Zoo Yearbook listed 34.42 (total 76) sloth bears registered as present in zoos (1998 data), with a note that this excludes most Indian collections. There were 4.2.2 animals born and 0.3.2 deaths. (J23.38.w1)
• ISIS lists 17.15.3 (total 35) Melursus ursinus, 5.8 (total 13) Melursus ursinus inornatus, 7.9.2 (total 18) Melursus ursinus ursinus and 3.2 (total 5) Melursus ursinus "Hybrid" giving a total of 71. (W520.June06.w1)
• There are about 20 sloth bears in European zoos, managed in an EEP. (N20.13.w2)
• There are 34 sloth bears in AZA collections; in other regional programmes, there are 27 in EAZA collections and 18 in SEAZA collections. (D319)

Trade and Use

Source Information

• These bears are sometimes used as "dancing bears" in India. (B285.w4)
• Body parts such as the gall bladder are used for alleged medicines; they are also used for food and for decorations. (B147)
• Sloth bears are taken as cubs and reared for use as "performing bears". (B435.w1)
• Gall bladders in particular, but also other body parts, are traded. (B435.w1)