GULABO - THE OLDEST BEAR DIED

GULABO - THE OLDEST BEAR DIED

Context:

Gulabo, the oldest bear has died at the age of 40. On 12 January 2022, she died in Van Vihar National Park and Zoo in Bhopal, Madhya Pradesh.

Key Points:

• She was a female sloth bear.
• She was one of the main attractions in the Van Vihar National Park and Zoo.
• In May 2006, rescued her from a Madaari or street performer at 25 years.

About Sloth bear:

• It is a myrmecophagous bear species.
• Native to the Indian subcontinent, it feeds on termites, fruits, and ants.
• The IUCN Red List is listed as the “Vulnerable” category.

Sloth Bear Characteristics:

• It has also been called the "labiated bear" because of its long lower lip and palate, used to sucking insects.
• It has long, green hair, the fur around the face, and long, sickle-shaped claws.
• It shared the characteristics of insectivorous mammals and evolved during the Pleistocene from an ancestral brown bear with a different evolution.

Habitat:

• They are found in India, the Terai of Nepal, Bhutan, and Sri Lanka.
• Sloth bears breed in spring and early summer and breed in late winter.
• When humans invade their lands, they sometimes attack them.