Sloth bear
Amazing fact
The sound of a sloth bear sucking up insects can carry a long way.
University of Michigan Animal Diversity Web
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An illustration based on the real animal.
A little discovery to share.
The sound of a sloth bear sucking up insects can carry a long way.
THE REAL WORLD
The real Sloth bear
- Scientific name
- Melursus ursinus
- Japanese name
- ナマケグマ
- Group
- Land mammals
- Class
- Mammalia
- Order
- Carnivora
- Family
- Ursidae
- Genus
- Melursus
Where the name “Sloth bear” comes from
Its English name remains from a time when it was thought to be related to sloths.
Smithsonian National ZooA shaggy-coated bear of the forests and grasslands of India, Sri Lanka and Nepal. It eats mainly termites and ants.
Adults are missing some of their upper front teeth, which lets them suck up termites and other insects. They can also close their nostrils to keep out dust and insects.
Mothers carry their cubs on their backs, and the cubs hold on to the long fur there.
How the Sloth bear lives
Their active hours change with their surroundings. They break open termite nests with long claws and blow away soil and dust. When fruit is in season, they also eat mangoes and figs. They are considered mostly solitary.
Smithsonian National ZooUniversity of Michigan Animal Diversity WebBasic data
- Size
- Length: 1.5–2 mShoulder height: 0.5–1 m
- Weight
- 90–140 kg
- Diet
- Mainly termites and ants
- Range
- India, Sri Lanka, and southern Nepal
Where the Sloth bear has been recorded
Records: GBIF.org (CC0 and CC BY 4.0 records, retrieved 2026-11-07). Map: Natural EarthSee the records on GBIF
Watch wild animals from a distance. Do not touch or feed them, and take care of the places where they live.
Names around the world
- 日本語
- ナマケグマ
- 简体中文
- 懒熊
- 繁體中文
- 懶熊
- 한국어
- 느림보곰
- Español
- Oso perezoso
- Français
- Ours lippu
- Deutsch
- Lippenbär
- Português (Brasil)
- Urso-beiçudo
- Italiano
- Orso labiato
- हिन्दी
- स्लोथ रीछ
- العربية
- دب كسلان
- Bahasa Indonesia
- Sloth
- Tiếng Việt
- Gấu lợn
- Русский
- Губач
- Türkçe
- Tembel ayı
- ไทย
- หมีสลอท
- বাংলা
- শ্লথ ভালুক
Names come from Wikidata and iNaturalist records. Where a language has no recorded name, we use the scientific name.
Sources and how we check
- Smithsonian National Zoo — Sloth bearChecked: 2026-11-03
- University of Michigan Animal Diversity Web — Melursus ursinusChecked: 2026-11-03
We check each fact against its source. The illustrations simplify how the real animal looks.
The classification (class, order, family, genus) follows Wikidata records, checked against GBIF. Classifications can change as research goes on.
The basic data are the values given in each source. They vary with how the animal is measured, whether it is male or female, and whether it lives in the wild or in captivity.
This page was translated from the original Japanese with the help of AI.
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