Experts call for protection of sloth bear on first World Sloth Bear Day

Classified as`Vulnerable’ on the IUCN Red List, sloth bears are endemic to the Indian sub-continent and 90% of the species population is found in India

The first World Sloth Bear Day was observed on Wednesday to generate awareness and strengthen conservation efforts around the unique bear species endemic to the Indian subcontinent. Classified as`Vulnerable’ on the IUCN Red List, sloth bears are endemic to the Indian sub-continent and 90% of the species population is found in India.

A proposal for observing the World Sloth Bear Day was mooted by Wildlife SOS India, an organisation involved in sloth bear conservation and protection for over two decades and the IUCN-Species Survival Commission sloth bear expert team accepted the proposal and declared the day to be celebrated worldwide.

On Wednesday, the officials of the Ministry of Environment, Forests and Climate Change and the Central Zoo Authority (CZA) along with other stakeholders, participated in an event at Agra to observe the day. Member secretary of the CZA Sanjay Kumar Shukla presented a letter of support for World Sloth Bear Day on behalf of the CZA and urged every zoo in India and around the world to celebrate the day for further conservation and protection of this Indian species of bear.

Sloth bears are identified by their very distinct long, shaggy dark brown or black fur, distinct white V-shaped chest patch and four-inch long ivory-coloured curved claws used for digging out termites and ants from rock-hard mounds. Listed under Schedule I of The (Wildlife Protection) Act of India, 1972 the species has the same level of protection as tigers, rhinos and elephants.

A press statement issued by Wildlife SOS on Wednesday stated that the organisation rescued and rehabilitated over hundreds of “performing dancing bears, thereby resolving a 400-year-old barbaric tradition (of dancing bears) while also providing alternative livelihoods to the nomadic Kalandar community members “.

Nishith Dharaiya, co-chair of the IUCN sloth bear expert team, told  The Hindu that the sloth bear ( Melursus ursinus) was an important species and endemic to the Indian sub-continent with small populations in Nepal and Srilanka. “For a long time sloth bears were exploited as dancing bears. Though the practice has been banned there are still a few cases of rescue,” Mr. Dharaiya said. He explained that sloth bears were omnivorous and survived on termites, ants and other social insects and fruits.

“They cannot eat meat and by foraging on fruits are the biggest seed dispersals. Sloth bears are found in all parts of the country except Jammu and Kashmir and northeastern States. Over the past few years there has been a rise of incidents of human sloth bear conflict in States like Gujarat, Rajasthan and Maharashtra among other states,” Mr. Dharaiya said.