sloth bear

American  

noun

1. a coarse-haired, long-snouted bear, Ursus ursinus, of India and Indochina: now rare.

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sloth bear British  

noun

1. a bear, Melursus ursinus, of forests of S India and Sri Lanka, having a shaggy coat and an elongated snout specialized for feeding on termites

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Etymology

Origin of sloth bear

First recorded in 1825–35

Example Sentences

He passed the other attractions of the South Garden: the camels, the twittering, vividly adorned macaws, the antelopes and zebra, the llamas, the sloth bear, and the monkeys in their crowded house, making mischief.

From Time • Jun. 26, 2017

Hana, a sloth bear who was born in Poland in 1994 and who came to the zoo in 1998, became sick with liver problems this summer, a zoo spokesman said.

From Washington Post • Oct. 19, 2016

Some of these species, including the sloth bear and some pangolins, are considered threatened by the IUCN.

From Scientific American • Feb. 22, 2013

Dry land diversions include a 17th-century Dutch fort and the Shrine of St. Anne, Sri Lanka’s oldest, as well as leopard, sloth bear and elephant spotting at nearby Wilpattu National Park.

From New York Times • Jan. 11, 2013

The sloth bear did not submit tamely to this double robbery, for he was himself the assailant—having been the first to cry “stand and deliver!”

From Bruin The Grand Bear Hunt by Zwecker, Johann Baptist