Photo of the Day #553: Sloth bear

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A sloth bear (Melursus ursinus), photographed at the National Zoo.


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A sloth bear (Melursus ursinus), photographed at the National Zoo in Washington DC.
I had nearly forgotten about this photograph of a sloth bear (Melursus ursinus), but it's one of my favorites. Don't let their name or insect-based diet fool you, though; they can move quite quickly and are can be very dangerous to encounter. This is not because they are especially aggressive, but…
The Sloth Bear (Melursus ursinus) is quite unusual, indeed; up until two years ago I had never even heard of this nocturnal bear from India, Nepal, and Sri Lanka. It is a bit mysterious why this bear is called the "Sloth Bear," however, although it does resemble anteaters (another member of the…
A black bear (Ursus americanus), photographed at the Turtleback Zoo.