Wrestling Sloth Bears, India

I sat quietly just a few metres away from wild sloth bears as they slobbered, tussled and wrestled over honey at Daroji bear sanctuary, India. These bears are wild and protected within the large reserve. Some are nuisance bears that have been captured trying to steal food, or attack people, in local villages, others have been translocated from areas where their habitat is being destroyed. Once a day the wildlife wardens smear honey on a few rocks to ensure that the most recently introduced bears have enough food. This makes them more visible and helps the wardens to monitor the health and population of the reserves several hundred sloth bears. It also gave us the perfect opportunity to film and photograph them.

Filmed by David Heath with thanks to our friends Kalyan Varma and Madanna Dilan.

Following my time with wild bears at Daroji I visited bannerghatta bear rescue centre where I saw the effect of the dancing bear trade, and how these endearing animals are tortured for entertainment. Read more and see the video here: http://www.ironammonite.com/2010/06/the-sloth-bears-tale-dancing-no-more.html