Daroji Bear Sanctuary Of Karnataka’s Gets 28 Km Long Safari Ride – Free PDF Download

• The much-awaited 28km long safari ride is all launched in Daroji Bear Sanctuary
• Tourists to Daroji sloth bear sanctuary will have a chance to see bears from close range as the forest department introduced safari rides in the morning and evening.

• Daroji Bear Sanctuary spread across 82 square km in Ballari and Vijayanagar districts is the only place in India that is a protected area for sloth bears.
• The sanctuary also houses reptiles and mammals, peacocks, jackals, boars, leopards, and some rare bird species.
• Initially, we have planned to introduce two vehicles with nine seats each. Each vehicle will have a guide.
• As bears are nocturnal, they start coming out of their dens during evening hours.

Daroji Sloth Bear Sanctuary

• It is located in Ballari district in Karnataka. This is asia’s first sloth bear Sanctuary. It is spread over 82.72 km² (31.94 sq mi).
• The sanctuary was created exclusively for the preservation of the sloth bear

• It is about 50 km from Ballari and about 15 km from the World Heritage Site Hampi.
• The area between Daroji in Sandur taluka and Ramasagar of Hospet Taluk is host to numerous sloth bears.
• Daroji Bear Sanctuary is abundantly filled with sloth bears, which shelter themselves in the rock-strewn areas hidden under the bushy forests.
• The bears are fond of sugar and hence most of the areas are covered in sugarcane, Ber fruits, Mahuva and even other crops.
• The sloth bear has a long and dark coat like covering of hair around them. Their forelimbs are longer than the hind ones.
• Since they have small ears and eyes, their sense of hearing and vision is quite poor, but with an impeccable nose for smelling.

Mythology Connection

• It is believed that during the mythological period of Ramayana, the empire Kishkinda (today’s Anegundi), which was the monkey empire of Sugriva was located on the banks of Tungabhadra river.
• During the en-route to Sri Lanka, King Rama, and his army had crossed the Hampi location, when Jambavantha, a bear joined the army.
• The mythological story depicts the existence of the sloth bears as early as the reign of Ramayana.

The Sloth Bear has two subspecies

• Indian Sloth Bear (Melursus ursinus ursinus): The bigger, well known and widespread of the subspecies, it is found in areas with forest cover, low hills bordering the outer range of the Himalayas from Punjab to Arunachal Pradesh.

Behaviour and Habitat of the Sloth Bear

• Adult sloth bears travel in pairs. They are excellent in climbing trees and running faster than humans.
• Sloth bear mothers carry their cubs up trees as the primary defense against attacks by predators instead of sending them up trees.
• The cubs can be threatened by predators such as tigers, leopards, and other bears.
• Sloth bears are adept in hunting termites and ants. On finding a termite/ant mound through smell they use their claws to comb their way to the bottom and disperse the soil with violent puffs.
• The insects then are sucked through the muzzles.
• Sloth bears can be found in a wide range of habitats like wet and dry tropical forests, shrublands and grasslands below 1500 m in the Indian subcontinen

Conservation Status of the Sloth Bear

• As per the IUCN Red List the Sloth bear is listed as vulnerable.
• No fewer than 20,000 sloth bears survive in the forests of Indian and Sri Lanka.
• It is listed in Schedule 1 of the Indian Wildlife Protection Act, 1972
• Sloth bears are one of the aggressives bear species and the large presence of human populations near its reserves have led to many instances of human-bear conflicts.
• A prevailing theory suggests that sloth bears see humans as potential predators muscling in on their territory and react by aggressively attacking them similar to how they would respond to Indian leopards or tigers.

Q.Consider the following statements about Sloth Bear:

1. The Sloth Bear has two subspecies one is Indian sloth bear and Arctic sloth bear
2. Sloth bears can be found in a wide range of habitats like wet and dry tropical forests, shrublands and grasslands

Which of the statements given above is/are correct?

• (a) Both 1 and 2 are correct
• (b) 1 Only
• (c) 2 only
• (d) Both 1 and 2 are incorrect

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