Sloth bear
Melursus ursinus (Shaw, 1791)
The sloth bear (Melursus ursinus) is a mammal in the bear family Ursidae, part of the order Carnivora. It is a nocturnal, terrestrial invertivore whose main foods are formicidae and termite, and its habitats are forest and grassland.
Quick facts about the sloth bear
Adults have a representative body mass of 93 kg and weigh up to 100 kg, which places the sloth bear in the large size class. The sloth bear is listed as Vulnerable on the IUCN Red List, a threatened category.
- Weight
- 93.1 kg – 100 kgsrc for Weight
- Length
- Not recorded
- Lifespan
- 36.7 years – 40 yearssrc for Lifespan
- Diet
- Invertivoresrc for Diet
- Main food
- formicidae, termitesrc for Main food
- Habitat
- forest, grasslandsrc for Habitat
- Gestation
- 198 days – 211 dayssrc for Gestation
- Young per litter or clutch
- 1.54src for Young per litter or clutch
- Age at maturity
- 3 years – 3.23 yearssrc for Age at maturity
- Litters or clutches a year
- 0.63src for Litters or clutches a year
- Reproduction
- Live birthsrc for Reproduction
- Active
- At night (nocturnal)src for Active
- Lifestyle
- Terrestrialsrc for Lifestyle
- Conservation status
- Vulnerable (IUCN)src for Conservation status
- Countries on record
- Not recorded
Photos of the sloth bear
Only freely licensed photos are shown. Each carries its creator and licence.
.jpg){kind=link}
_male_3.jpg){kind=link}
Where does the sloth bear live?
Not recorded
What is the sloth bear?
The sloth bear (Melursus ursinus), also known as the Indian bear, is a myrmecophagous bear species native to the Indian subcontinent. It feeds on fruits, ants and termites. It is listed as vulnerable on the IUCN Red List, mainly because of habitat loss and degradation. It is the only species in the genus Melursus.
It has also been called "labiated bear" because of its long lower lip and palate used for sucking up insects. It has long, shaggy fur, a mane around the face, and long, sickle-shaped claws. It is lankier than brown and Asian black bears.
It shares features of insectivorous mammals and evolved during the Pleistocene from the ancestral ursine bear through divergent evolution.
Sloth bears breed during spring and early summer and give birth near the beginning of winter. When their territories are encroached upon by humans, they sometimes attack them. Historically, humans have drastically reduced these bears' habitat and diminished their population by hunting them for food and products such as their bacula and claws. Sloth bears have been tamed and used as performing animals and as pets.
From the Wikipedia article “Sloth bear” (en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Sloth_bear&oldid=1381108703), by Wikipedia contributors, licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0 (creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0). This block is kept separate from our own text.
Is the sloth bear endangered?
The sloth bear is listed as Vulnerable on the IUCN Red List: it faces a high risk of extinction in the wild.
- LCLeast Concern
- NTNear Threatened
- VUVulnerable
- ENEndangered
- CRCritically Endangered
- EWExtinct in the Wild
- EXExtinct
Category via Wikidata (CC0). Find the full assessment on the IUCN Red List. See all Vulnerable species.
How is the sloth bear classified?
- kingdomAnimalia
- phylumChordata
- classMammalia
- orderCarnivora
- familyUrsidae
- genusMelursus
- SpeciesMelursus ursinus (Shaw, 1791)
Synonyms Bradypus ursinus
Other names and names in other languages (55)
- Bear-slothEnglish
- Labiated bearEnglish
- Stickney bearEnglish
- Luiaard BeerAfrikaans
- دب الكسلانArabic
- মাটি ভালুকAssamese
- শ্লথ ভালুকBangla
- শ্লথ ভালুক বা কালো ভালুকBangla
- medvěd pyskatýCzech
- LæbebjørnDanish
- LippenbärGerman
- Αρκούδα βραδύπουςGreek
- Oso PerezosoSpanish
- Oso bezudo o labiadoSpanish
- HuulkaruEstonian
- huulikarhuFinnish
- Ours lippuFrench
- Ours à longues lèvresFrench
- Ours à mielFrench
- Ours lippu de l'IndeFrench
- Ours paresseuxFrench
- Ours prochile lippuFrench
- Prochile lippuFrench
- રીંછGujarati
- דוב שפתניHebrew
- रीछHindi
- भालूHindi
- BhaluHindi
- RinchhHindi
- ajakos medveHungarian
- LetibjörnIcelandic
- Orso bradipoItalian
- Orso giocoliereItalian
- Orso labiatoItalian
- ナマケグマJapanese
- ಕರಡಿKannada
- 느림보곰Korean
- अस्वलMarathi
- LeppebjørnNorwegian Bokmål
- LippenbeerDutch
- WargaczPolish
- Wargacz leniwyPolish
- Urso-beiçudoPortuguese
- Urso-PreguiçaPortuguese
- ГубачRussian
- Медведь-губачRussian
- ऋक्षSanskrit
- වලසාSinhala
- වලහාSinhala
- LäppbjörnSwedish
- கரடிTamil
- หมีสลอธThai
- Tembel AyıTurkish
- Ведмідь-губачUkrainian
- 懶熊Chinese
Relatives of the sloth bear
Other species in the same family Ursidae.
Polar bear
Ursus maritimus
Giant panda
Ailuropoda melanoleuca
Brown bear
Ursus arctos
American black bear
Ursus americanus
Asian black bear
Ursus thibetanus
Sun bear
Helarctos malayanus
CompareSloth bear vs Polar bearSloth bear vs Giant pandaSloth bear vs Brown bearSloth bear vs American black bear
Common questions
Each answer is written from the sourced facts on this page, and only where they hold the answer.
What does the sloth bear eat?
The sloth bear is an invertivore whose main foods are formicidae and termite.
How heavy is a sloth bear?
Adult sloth bears have a representative body mass of 93 kg and weigh up to 100 kg.
Is the sloth bear endangered?
The sloth bear is listed as Vulnerable on the IUCN Red List, which is a threatened category.
How long does a sloth bear live?
Sources give a lifespan of 36.65 years for the sloth bear, with values up to 40 years.
What kind of animal is the sloth bear?
The sloth bear is a mammal and a bear in the family Ursidae, order Carnivora.
What are other names for the sloth bear?
Other English names for the sloth bear are Bear-sloth, Stickney bear and Labiated bear.
Sources and how to cite this page
Data as of 2026-11-11. How this page is put together.
- An amniote life-history database to perform comparative analyses with birds, mammals, and reptiles · CC0 1.0 · E096-269
Myhrvold, N.P., Baldridge, E., Chan, B., Sivam, D., Freeman, D.L. & Ernest, S.K.M. (2015) An amniote life-history database to perform comparative analyses with birds, mammals, and reptiles. Ecology 96: 3109. https://doi.org/10.1890/15-0846R.1. Data: https://doi.org/10.6084/m9.figshare.3563457.v1 - Catalogue of Life eXtended Release · CC BY 4.0 · 2026-10-16 XR
Catalogue of Life (2026). Catalogue of Life eXtended Release, version 2026-10-16 XR. Catalogue of Life Foundation, Amsterdam, Netherlands. https://doi.org/10.48580/dgzlf - Wikimedia Commons · per file (CC0 / public domain / CC BY green, CC BY-SA amber, anything else not displayed) · 2026-11-11
Wikimedia Commons contributors. Wikimedia Commons. https://commons.wikimedia.org (each file credited to its author under its own licence). - EltonTraits 1.0: species-level foraging attributes of the world's birds and mammals · CC0 1.0 · 1.0
Wilman, H., Belmaker, J., Simpson, J., de la Rosa, C., Rivadeneira, M.M. & Jetz, W. (2014) EltonTraits 1.0: Species-level foraging attributes of the world's birds and mammals. Ecology 95: 2027. https://doi.org/10.1890/13-1917.1. Data: https://doi.org/10.6084/m9.figshare.3559887.v1 - Wikidata · CC0 1.0 · 2026-11-11
Wikidata contributors. Wikidata. https://www.wikidata.org (data retrieved via the Wikidata Query Service). - Wikipedia (English) · CC BY-SA 4.0 · 2026-11-11
Wikipedia contributors. Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia. https://en.wikipedia.org (text under CC BY-SA 4.0; each block names its article and revision).
Embed a card for this animal on your own site
Copy this code. The card shows the photo with its credit, key facts and a link back to this page.
CreatureData. (2026). Sloth bear (Melursus ursinus). Retrieved from https://creaturedata.com/animals/sloth-bear
“Sloth bear (Melursus ursinus).” CreatureData, 2026, https://creaturedata.com/animals/sloth-bear.
@misc{sloth_bear_2026,
title = {Sloth bear (Melursus ursinus)},
author = {{CreatureData}},
year = {2026},
url = {https://creaturedata.com/animals/sloth-bear},
note = {Data as of 2026-11-11}
}