Re-Introducing Baloo
Text Winnie Leung
Photos Axel Gomille
IF you're familiar with Disney's Jungle Book, you would have "met" a sloth bear before. That is because the jovial Baloo, teacher and protector of "man-cub" Mowgli, is a sloth bear.
Ironically, very little is known about wild sloth bears - they tend to be quite shy and elusive. They live in a variety of habitats, including deciduous forest, grasslands and rocky hills, though they avoid high elevations. Sloth bears are native to the Indian subcontinent. Historically, their habitat extended from the southern foothills of the Himalayan mountains to Sri Lanka, but today they are confined mostly to areas with remaining forest cover. The world population of sloth bears is estimated to be about 8,000 to 20,000.
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