The incredible Sloth Bear is certainly one of the most unique of the world’s 8 bear species. In addition to their very shaggy appearance and adaptation to eating ants and termites, they also lack two upper incisors that other bears have. Indeed, when it was described in the late 1700s, the Sloth Bear was described as a species of Sloth! It is of course now properly placed within the bear family, but is still classed within its own genus – the Melursus.
Distributed widely throughout the Indian subcontinent as well as Sri Lanka, the Sloth Bear can be found in many national parks, albeit at low density. The fact that it is partly nocturnal makes it even more challenging to track one down. Still, we have a good chance of seeing a Sloth Bear on our upcoming Tigers & Taj Mahal trip, as we will visit Tadoba and Bandhavgarh – two of the best reserves to find it.
A sighting of a Sloth Bear is sure to get the pulses racing; and is just one of a whole host of amazing wildlife that we can see on this tour, including Tiger, Leopard, Dhole, Jungle Cat, Gaur, and many more. The tour also visits the birding mecca of Bharatpur, along with India’s architectural wonders, including the Taj Mahal.
