The Status of Nepal's Mammals: The National Red List Series - IUCN

36) Melursus ursinus (Shaw, 1791)
Common Names
Sloth Bear (English); Kathe Bhalu (Nepali)
Species Description
A shaggy black animal with a long flexible grey
coloured snout, cream ring around eyes and cream
‘horseshoe’ on chest. Long claws.
Species Ecology
Sloth Bears occur in a wide variety of habitats
ranging from grasslands, thorn scrub, sal forest,
moist evergreen forest and riverine forest. The main
food sources for this species are termites, honey,
berries, roots, carrion, insects and fruit.
Sloth Bears have an average litter size of two cubs
after a gestation period of approximately five
months.
Conservation Status
Global: Vulnerable A2cd+4cd; C1
National: Endangered C2a(i); D1
Rationale for assessment: The Sloth Bear (Melursus
ursinus) has been assessed as Endangered under
criterion C in view of a small population suspected
to consist of fewer than 250 mature individuals and
anticipated future population declines of at least
20% over the next five years. The threats to this
species include poaching and trapping for trade
in gall bladder and for use as dancing bears and
further persecution due to human-wildlife conflict,
and have not yet been effectively addressed. Sloth
Bears also occur in India and Bhutan, however their
distribution is now highly fragmented throughout
their range which makes recolonisation from
outside populations less likely.
Legal Status
CITES Appendix I
National Parks and Wildlife Conservation Act 2029
(1973). This species occurs within protected areas.
National Population Size
Total: < 1,000
Adults: < 250 (estimated)
The current population is estimated to consist of less
than 1,000 individuals and may be as few as 250 to
500 in a remaining range of approximately 17,000
km 2 . Chitwan National Park is considered to have
the highest population density of Sloth Bears with
an estimated 200 to 250. Based on local information,
there is an estimated population of around 40 to
50 individuals in Sundarpur (Trijuga) of Udayapur
district and signs and confrontations have been
reported from Kapilbastu and Satbariya. The Sloth
Bear is rarely sighted in Bardia National Park and
thought to have been extirpated in Shukla Phanta
Wildlife Reserve, where the last sign was recorded in
1994.
National Distribution
This species is restricted to the Terai area of Nepal
and occurs within the protected areas of Bardia
National Park, Chitwan National Park, Parsa Wildlife
Reserve and surrounding districts of Banke (west of
Bhalubang), Bara, Kailali and Dang.
Distribution outside Nepal
Bhutan, India, Sri Lanka.
Main Threats
• Habitat loss, degradation and fragmentation
due to human settlements, conversion of land
for agriculture, deforestation and livestock
grazing.
• Retaliatory killing in response to crop raiding or
human injury.
• Poaching for gall bladder.
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