FOOD AVAILABILITY AND FEEDING ECOLOGY OF SLOTH BEAR (Melursus ursinus) IN DARRAH WILDLIFE SANCTUARY, KOTA, RAJASTHAN, INDIA

摘要

Most bears are opportunistic omnivores. As such, their activities are governed by the availability of food items and dietary components within their habitat. Nutrition plays an important role in the reproductive rate of female bears (Jonkel and Cowan, 1971). Sloth bears are one of the largest termite-eaters (up to 175 kg) occurring in lowland India, Bangladesh, Nepal, and Sri Lanka. A significant portion of their diet consists of ants and termites, whereas much of the remainder is fruit (Eisenberg and Lockhart, 1972; Laurie and Seidensticker, 1977; Schaller, 1967). Sloth bear is the only ursid having myrmecophagous adaptations to feed on insects, especially termites and ants (Laurie and Seidensticker, 1977; Joshi et al., 1997).