Sloth Bear

The sloth bear is a shaggy, lanky bear with a mane around the face, long sickle-shaped claws and a long lower lip and palate used to suck up insects. It has the longest tail of any bear, 15 to 18cm. Its teeth are often in poor condition from the soil it takes in while feeding on insects. Females usually have more fur between the shoulders (Wikipedia, general species account).

Sloth bears of the nominate subspecies in Nepal averaged 95kg in females and 114kg in males, and the species' range includes the Terai of Nepal. Although they look slow and clumsy, both young and adult sloth bears climb well, to feed and rest rather than to escape enemies. They breed in spring and early summer and give birth near the start of winter. Nationally Endangered (Nepal National Red List 2011).