Head to head
Sun Bear vs Sloth Bear
The sun bear and the sloth bear are the two smallest and most unusual bears of tropical Asia, and both wear a pale mark on the chest, so they are sometimes mixed up. In life they are very different: one is a compact, glossy, tree-climbing forest animal, the other a large, ragged, ground-living insect specialist with a fearsome reputation.
| Sun Bear | Sloth Bear | |
|---|---|---|
| Scientific name | Helarctos malayanus | Melursus ursinus |
| Where it lives | Forests of mainland and island Southeast Asia | Forests and grasslands of the Indian subcontinent |
| Weight | About 25 to 65 kg (smallest bear) | About 55 to 140 kg |
| Coat | Short, sleek, jet black | Long, shaggy, and unkempt |
| Chest mark | Orange to cream horseshoe | Pale V or Y shape |
| Feeding trick | Very long tongue for honey and insects | Tooth gap and tube-shaped lips to vacuum up termites |
| Lifestyle | Strong climber, often nocturnal, spends time in trees | Mostly ground-living; carries cubs on its back |
| Danger to people | Generally shy; bites if cornered | Among the most dangerous animals in India; many attacks a year |
Sun Bear vs Sloth Bear: common questions
Which is smaller, the sun bear or the sloth bear?
The sun bear, and by a clear margin. It is the smallest of the eight living bear species, with males usually 25 to 65 kg and females smaller, standing only around 70 cm at the shoulder. The sloth bear is roughly twice as heavy, with males commonly 80 to 140 kg. If you see a small, neat, black bear with a very short coat in Southeast Asia it is a sun bear; a bigger bear with a long, messy, mane-like coat in India or Sri Lanka is a sloth bear. Their ranges barely overlap, in parts of northeast India and Bangladesh, so location alone usually settles it.
Why is the sloth bear considered so dangerous?
Several things combine. Sloth bears have weak eyesight and hearing because they evolved to find insect nests by smell, so they often do not notice a person until that person is very close. They feed with their heads down in thick vegetation, exactly the situation for a startling face-to-face meeting. And when a sloth bear is surprised its instinct is to attack first, rearing up and striking at the head with long claws. They share their habitat with a dense human population of farmers, herders, and forest-produce collectors, so encounters are common. India records dozens of serious sloth bear maulings a year, more human casualties than tigers or leopards cause in many areas.
What does the sun bear use its long tongue for?
Mainly for getting at food inside cavities. The sun bear has a tongue that can extend some 20 to 25 cm, one of the longest relative to body size of any carnivore, and it uses it to lick honey, bee larvae, and grubs out of hollow trees, and to reach ants and termites deep in their galleries. It first rips the nest or log open with its powerful jaws and unusually long, curved claws, then probes with the tongue. This taste for honey has earned it the local name honey bear across much of its range. The same claws and a loose skin around the neck also make it a capable climber and give it some protection if a larger predator grabs it.