“Beyond Tigers: The Forgotten Crisis of Sloth Bear Conservation in India”
We always enthusiastically participate in discussions about tigers because jungle tourism in India largely revolves around tigers. However, today I want to talk about a serious issue.
Have we ever discussed the conservation of sloth bears? Most people’s answer would be “no,” because we tend to bundle sloth bear conservation with tiger conservation, which is not right. After all, tigers are not found everywhere.
In India, there are only a few dedicated sloth bear sanctuaries. In Rajasthan itself, there are two: one is the Mount Abu Bear Sanctuary, and on the other side of those hills, there is another sanctuary that protects around 200 sloth bears.
The issue here is that these animals are omnivorous, but they primarily prefer a vegetarian diet. Today, you can easily spot these bears in Mount Abu during any time of the day, coming out of the forest into residential areas or near temples in search of easy food. In many cases, groups of these bears can be seen rummaging through garbage dumps for food items — behaviour that is completely contrary to their natural solitary lifestyle.
We humans have destroyed their natural habitat and have indirectly turned them into dependents (almost parasites), because they now know exactly where easy food is available. The new generation of sloth bears observes their mothers’ activities and adopts the same methods as their primary strategy for obtaining food.
In Chhattisgarh’s Mahasamund district, there is a temple where people come less for the darshan (worship) of God and more to watch the “show” of feeding bears biscuits and food offered in the name of Baba. I call it a “show” because the forest department staff are well aware of it but still allow it to happen.
Moreover, after leopards, sloth bears are the animals most frequently killed in road accidents in India.
These animals urgently need a structured and concrete conservation effort — one that they truly deserve but have not yet received.
#slothbear #bear