The sun bear, also known as the honey bear, thrives in the hot and humid lowlands of southeast Asia. From northern Burma and Bangladesh, south and east across Laos, Cambodia, Vietnam, and Thailand, and south to Malaysia and the islands of Sumatra and Borneo, the sun bear forages in deep rain forests, spending most of their time in trees where they can hunt for fruit and nuts year round. They are the world’s smallest and least studied bear, and also have the reputation as being one of the most ferocious animals in the rain forest. Because they are so rare, very little research has been done on sun bears. They are even listed as “date deficient” on the World Conservation Union’s Red List of Threatened Animals.
As you can tell from their nick name, honey bear, their favorite food is honey, and they even have an unusually long tongue specifically for extracting honey from beehives. Besides this, sun bears are omnivores and will eat just about anything, from fruit and nuts to snails, eggs, lizards, and rodents. They are very good at scavenging through the jungle, eating any kind of food they can find, including certain kinds of vegetation, insects, birds, and other small animals. Most of their hunting is done at night, as they are mostly nocturnal, napping and sunbathing throughout most of their day in nests that they make in trees. Perhaps one reason why they sleep so much is because sun bears do not hibernate due to the year-round warm weather climate of their habitat.
As more of their habitat is being destroyed in certain “disturbed areas”, sun bears have been running into problems with humans as they have been raiding farms, killing plantation palm trees to eat “heart of palm”, or feasting on bananas, papayas, or garbage. As so little is known about the sun bear, it has been difficult to implement any conservation plans. However, one thing that is certain is that habitat loss, logging, hunting for illegal trade in bear parts, and conflicts with humans are having an effect througout the bear’s range and threaten its survival. Logging especially has become a problem, as it not only immediately destroys the bear’s habitat, but also causes the surrounding forests to become drier, increasing the frequency of forest fires. Although laws have been written to protect the sun bear, they have not been enforced, as many people who live near these rainforests are impoverished and starving, willing to capture and sell them as pets.
