Mother Sloth Bear Teaches Cubs to Hunt for Termites   Love Nature - video Dailymotion

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00:00 A mother bear and her two young cubs must find a way to outlast the crushing Indian dry season.

00:07 But even if they can, will they just be leaping from the frying pan into the fire?

00:17 Almost the end of a three-month hot dry season.

00:27 Ambling through this jagged and barren landscape is a remarkable creature.

00:33 Beebee is an eight-year-old sloth bear.

00:41 She's out in the sweltering heat, searching for breakfast.

00:47 Standing three feet tall at the shoulder and weighing in at 200 pounds,

00:54 she's just two-thirds the size of a female American grizzly.

00:59 But she's strong for her size.

01:03 She's easily able to turn over large rocks and even small boulders.

01:09 This morning, she's looking for insects, which make up most of her diet.

01:16 Sloth bears are normally solitary and forage at night,

01:22 but Beebee is out in the day for a very particular reason.

01:26 She's a mother.

01:29 Eight months ago, at the end of the last monsoon season, she gave birth to twins.

01:36 They were born naked and blind, and each weighed only one pound.

01:44 She nursed them and kept them in the safety of a cave for the first two months.

01:52 Once they were old enough, they began venturing out with their mother into her territory during the day.

01:58 Sloth bears can be extremely aggressive and territorial.

02:07 By avoiding going out at night, Beebee reduces the risk of running into other sloth bears,

02:13 particularly adult males, who could easily kill a cub.

02:19 The family's daytime forays also lessen the chance of running into larger predators,

02:24 like tigers and leopards, an even bigger danger to her infants.

02:30 Beebee is raising her cubs in the Daroji Reserve in the Indian state of Karnataka.

02:38 Along the coast run the Western Ghats,

02:42 a vast ridge of mountains that directly influence the weather far inland.

02:49 From May to September, the mountains capture moisture-laden winds coming from the Arabian Sea,

02:55 forming clouds which burst inland during the monsoon.

03:01 These annual rains are a lifeline in a landscape dominated by deciduous scrub and thorn forests,

03:08 which for the rest of the year lies dry and parched.

03:15 In this harsh environment, Beebee has chosen a great place to base her family.

03:20 Her mile-square home range is centered around a small clearing with rocky outcrops.

03:26 With groundwater close to the surface, it's a fertile oasis even now, towards the end of the dry season.

03:34 The dry season is a time of great opportunity for the sloth bear to find a new home.

03:42 It's a refuge that hasn't gone unnoticed by other mothers on the plains.

03:47 Living here all year round, these bonnet macaques and their infants know the best spots to find food.

03:59 Using their sensitive fingers, they explore everything.

04:10 Picking up leaves, grasses, fruits and insects.

04:15 They stuff their cheek pouches.

04:23 These allow them to carry their meal to a safe place to enjoy later.

04:34 And also keeps their hands free for a quick getaway, which is often necessary.

04:41 Dining al fresco makes them easy targets for predators.

04:47 Beebee is no threat to the monkeys.

04:51 She's more gatherer than hunter.

04:59 After the last monsoon, the family made the most of the fruiting trees.

05:04 More than three quarters of their diet was this delicacy.

05:08 But by May, the fruit has almost disappeared.

05:13 Luckily for Beebee, during lean times, she can adapt.

05:19 She and her cubs specialize in eating and sleeping.

05:25 She and her cubs specialize in eating ants and termites.

05:30 At this time of year, 90% of their diet is made up of these abundant insects.

05:41 Termites are a highly specialized form of cockroach.

05:51 Social animals, they live in vast colonies, sometimes millions strong.

05:56 But their nests can exist far underground and can be as hard as concrete.

06:03 Made from feces, soil and partly digested plant material, they are glued together with saliva.

06:11 Not an easy barrier for any animal to get past.

06:17 What's more, the ground here is covered in boulders.

06:21 So how's a hungry bear to find the termites and then get at them?

06:27 Fortunately for Beebee and her cubs, sloth bears have a technique for that.

06:35 Equipped with an acute sense of smell, they can detect termites three feet underground.

06:45 Once Beebee finds the entrance, even hundred pound rocks aren't much of a problem.

06:51 But now that she's uncovered the nest, she has to open it.

07:01 Three inch curved claws on her front paws are perfectly shaped for digging through even rock-harmed termite nests.

07:09 With these formidable tools, a hairless snout and long flexible lips, she can access a rich food supply that others can't.

07:19 Blowing off the dirt, she sucks up the bugs like a vacuum cleaner.

07:25 By watching their mother, her young cubs learn exactly how to do it.

07:37 The young cubs learn exactly how to do it for themselves.

07:41 Sloth bears are so well adapted to this diet that they're missing their two front teeth, so they can suck and snuffle more efficiently.

07:56 They can even close their nostrils on demand to stop insects from crawling into their nose.

08:04 There doesn't seem to be anything slothful about these sloth bears.

08:09 At just eight months old, the cubs aren't yet strong enough to lift the large rocks or dig for themselves.

08:17 But Beebee will supplement their diet by nursing them for at least another four months.

08:23 So as long as there's enough food, Beebee can provide all the milk her cubs need.

08:31 [music]

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08:50 on YouTube.

Mother Sloth Bear Teaches Cubs to Hunt for Termites Love Nature

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