At this point, I’d say I’m pretty familiar with much of the wildlife here in the United States, but there’s no shortage of creatures overseas to still be learned about.
Case in point, the sloth bear.
Sloth bear are the most prevalent bear in India and their range is most of the country plus Sri Lanka. They have a long snout which scientists believe evolved due to their main food source being ants and termites, although they will also consume honey, bees, berries, and carcasses they stumble upon.
Despite their bug heavy diet, these bears are extremely aggressive and are known to attack anything, including humans, that encroach on their territory. In fact, some consider them to be the most dangerous creature in all of India, despite the region also being home to tigers and leopards.
Okay, I was skeptical too when I read that. We’ve seen leopards carry rhinos up trees and tigers take out animals of all sizes, up to and including elephants, so how can this bear be more dangerous?
Well, it turns out they have a similar attitude to honey badgers, and coupling that with 200 to 300 pounds of muscle and disproportionately large paws with sickle shaped claws, you start to understand just the type of animal we’re dealing with.
Maybe the best example of their place in the food chain is this video from Ranthambor National Park in northern India, where two tigers came face to face with one of these sloth bears.
The video begins with one tigers stalking a very oblivious sloth bear. Seriously, this tiger was within feet of the bear and he didn’t even realize until he turned around and immediately got ready to strike.
While the tiger may have had the upper hand if it struck while the iron was hot, as soon as the bear locked eyes on the cat, it was clear who the dominant one was.
The sloth bear backed the curious tiger up to its partner, who was laying down in the grass. The bear continuously got up on its hind legs to show its size and that was enough for the two tigers, who tucked their tails and ran away, giving the sloth bear a victory through retreat.
Despite all of the facts I’ve read and watching this video, I really think the two tigers could have taken this bear out if they wanted, but hey, they’re the ones actually face to face with this psycho bear.
Sloth bears… not a creature I thought I’d be terrified of.
