India has no sloths at all, yet one of its best-known forest animals carries the name of one, thanks to a zoologist who guessed wrong more than two centuries ago.
Sloth Bear
Sloth bears, which live mostly on ants, termites and fruit, appear to have been digging snakes out of the forest floor, in what may be the first record of the species hunting that prey.
The organisation that worked to end India’s centuries-old dancing bear practice is rallying experts to find ways to protect sloth bears from habitat loss.
Wildlife SOS says its three-decade programme to move India’s Kalandar community away from the “dancing bear” trade has now reached more than 25,000 families, a milestone the organisation marked this week with a new corporate award.
Three days before India marks International Tiger Day, three separate high-level wildlife meetings took place in the same city, each announcing a policy move of its own.