North American Sloth Bear Population

How many of these zoos are breeding sloth bears, and of the ones that aren't how many have the facilities to be capable of breeding sloth bears?

 

I believe Woodland Park, Philadelphia, Little Rock, Idaho Falls, and Cleveland Metroparks are all breeding them. Columbus was trying, I don't know if they still are. I believe Brookfield used to but they don't anymore?

 

I found the 2013 studbook and so I have some of the birthdates and parents you are missing:

Kartik was born on January 10th, 2009 to Jack and Thelma and is Priya's littermate.

Balawat was born on January 9th, 2006 to Merlin and Hana.

Randhir was actually born on December 18th, 2012 to Randy and Tasha.

Kramer was born on December 16th, 2000, his parents are unknown. Idk who Kmari is, however she may be Kramer's littermate Kay (with a new name).

Mick was born on December 9th, 1998 to Kaylo/Nori and Dusty and his birthname was Jag.

Priya's parents were Jack and Thelma and she is Kartik's littermate.

Namba was actually born on January 3rd, 2004 to Randy and Khali. I believe his littermate Pabu died but I have no confirmation other than the fact that Lee Richardson has only mentioned Namba in their recent Facebook posts about their sloth bears.

She was born on December 27th, 1998.

She was born on December 11th.

Bhutan was born on January 3rd, 2000 to Knemo and Peanut. Tasha was born on December 27th, 2004 to Francois and Nocona. WPZ is also home to Tasha's daughter Kushali who was born on December 18th, 2012, she was sired by Randy and is Randhir's littermate.

Shiva, Heiderose, Bodo, and Niko are all imports from Europe so I'm not sure when they were born and who their parents are.

Here is a link to the 2013 studbook where I found all this information: Sloth Bear Studbook 2013

 

Shiva was born on December 25, 2014, to Subodh and Lina in Leipzig.
Heidirose was born on January 4, 2012, to Klaus and Ludmilla in Leipzig.
Bodo was born in 2009, to Klaus and Ludmilla in Leipzig.
Niko was born on December 6, 2014, to Franz and Devi in Rheine.

Is 0.1 Keesha still alive at Zoo Miami?

 

Do you know if Shiva is related to Bodo and Heiderose since they were all born at Leipzig?

 

If Brookfield has had breeding success in the past, then maybe it would be ideal for them to start breeding again, even if it means switching Hani out for a younger female. With such a small population, the top priority should be getting as many bears as possible into breeding situations- even if that means having less zoos hold bears.

 

Does anyone know what happened to Kara at Omaha? I thought there was a breeding recommendation with Bodo. There was confirmation she was still at the zoo early in 2021, but I have only ever seen one bear on exhibit.

 

From a newsletter from the Zoo today via email, I believe Kara is still at Omaha as they were advertising "artwork" she made for sale. Maybe there is still hope for breeding at Omaha...

 

@Animals R AMAZING!
SUBODH was born in India. LINA (mother of SHIVA), FRANZ (father of NIKO), HEIDEROSE and BODO are full siblings.

 

0.1 Shala has been transferred to SDZ from Cleveland to breed with 1.0 Kartick! They have already been introduced to one another!

Source: https://www.instagram.com/p/CVZGAaQFZKP/?utm_medium=copy_link

 

Wonderful news. Any ideas on where the offspring would potentially move to?

 

The Philadelphia Zoo sloth bear exhibit sign lists that they are subspecies inornatus (Sri Lankan). Can this info be trusted, or are they just generic sloth bears?

 

I’m pretty sure Bhalu is of the Sri Lankan subspecies and if I’m not mistaken his mate Kayla is Indian. Their daughter, who apparently left the zoo recently, is a hybrid.

 

What other sloth bears in the US are confirmed Sri Lankan?

 

Bhalu is not purebred Sri Lankan. Bhalu's grandparents were Amy and Goof of Capron Park Zoo, of which Amy was a purebred mainland bear and Goof was a purebred Sri Lankan. So at most he could be 75% Sri Lankan, assuming that Katrik (his father) is a purebred Sri Lankan.

 

Once I publish the new version of the Sloth Bear list, I'll do some digging and check out a few resources to let you know.

 

Here is the recent (12/4/2021) Sloth Bear Population.

The North American Sloth Bear Population​

This document keeps a record of all births, deaths, locations, and transfers of all Sloth Bears in North America. This document will be constantly updated to make sure that the information provided is as accurate as possible. Feel free to leave any new information in the comments of this thread.

The facilities are organized by country, then in alphabetical order by the name of the facility. The individuals were organized by age.


Total Facilities with Sloth Bears: 18

Total Amount of Individuals: 35 (15.18.2)



United States

Brookfield Zoo - Brookfield, Illinois - 1.1.0
0.1, Hani - January 7, 2003 - Goof x Amy
1.0, Katrik - January 10, 2009 - Jack x Thelma


Capron Park Zoo - Attleboro, Massachusetts - 0.1.0
0.1, Vickie - January 20, 2013 - Katrik x Hani


Cleveland Metroparks Zoo - Cleveland, Ohio - 1.2.0
1.0, Balawat - January 9, 2006 - Merlin x Hana - May be at San Diego?
0.1, Shiva - December 24, 2014 - Subodh x Lina
0.1, Shala - January 14, 2019 - Balawat x Shiva


Columbus Zoo - Columbus, Ohio - 1.1.0
0.1, Heiderose - January 4, 2012
1.0, Rhandir - December 18, 2012 - Randy x Tasha


Creation Kingdom Zoo - Scott County, Virginia - 1.1.0
1.0, Kramer - December 16, 2000
0.1, Kmari - December 16, 2000


Fresno Chaffe Zoo
Currently building a new exhibit. Planned to be done by Fall 2021.


Henry Doorly Zoo - Omaha, Nebraska - 1.1.0
0.1, Kara - January 10, 2002
1.0, Bodo - January 6, 2009 - Klaus x Ludmilla


Idaho Falls Zoo at Tautphaus Park - 1.1.0
1.0, Mick - December 9, 1998 - Kaylo/Nori x Dusty
0.1, Priya - January 20, 2009 - Jack x Thelma


Lee Richardson Zoo - Garden City, Kansas - 1.0.0
1.0, Namba - January 3, 2004 - Randy x Khali


Little Rock Zoo - Little Rock, Arkansas - 2.2.0
0.1, Khali - December 27, 1998 - Goof x Amy
1.0, Sahaasa - November 29, 2012 - Mick x Priya
1.0, Pabu - November 18, 2016 - Mick x Priya
0.1, Zaara - January 9, 2019 - Sahaasa x Khali


Philadelphia Zoo - Philadelphia, Pennsylvania - 1.2.0
0.1, Kayla - November 29, 2012 - Mick x Priya
1.0, Bhalu - January 20, 2013 - Katrik x Hani
0.1, Keematee - December 11, 2019 - Bhalu x Kayla


Safari North - Crow Wing County, Minnesota - 0.0.2


San Diego Zoo - San Diego, California - 1.0.0
1.0, Kartick - December 27, 2017 - Bhutan x Tasha


Smithsonian National Zoo - Washington D.C. - 2.0.0
1.0, Niko - December 6, 2014 - Franz x Devi
1.0, Deemak - December 27, 2017 - Bhutan x Tasha


Sunset Zoo - Manhattan, Kansas - 0.2.0
0.1, Tess - December 5, 2019 - Mick x Priya
0.1, Molly - December 5, 2019 - Mick x Priya


Woodland Park Zoo - Seattle, Washington - 1.2.0
1.0, Bhutan - January 3, 2000 - Knemo x Peanut
0.1, Tasha - December 27, 2004 - Francois x Nocona
0.1, Kushali - December 18, 2012 - Randy x Tasha


Zoo Boise - Boise, Idaho - 0.1.0
0.1, Paji - January 7, 2003 - Goof x Amy


Zoo Miami - Miami-Dade County, Florida - 1.1.0
0.1, Keesha - January 4, 1996 - 524 x 468
1.0, Hank - December 19, 2012 - Francois x Hana

 

Shala (noted at Cleveland) is at the San Diego Zoo as a girlfriend for Kartick.

 

Some wonderful news out of Woodland Park this morning, the birth of 1.1 cubs!

9-year old female Kushali gave birth to her first litter of cubs on January 1st, 2022, the cubs were sired by the zoo's 21-year old male Bhutan. The zoo is now home to 2.3 sloth bears (Bhutan, Kushali, her mother Tasha, and the cubs).

It's TWINS—sloth bear cubs born New Year's Day!

 

More exciting news, another cub was born this past denning season!

1.0 cub names Jagger was born at Idaho Falls Zoo the week before Thanksgiving! He is his parents Mick and Priya’s sixth cub.

Idaho Falls has been doing a wonderful job breeding this species over the last decade. They’re like the Toledo Zoo of sloth bears!

Idaho Falls Zoo introduces new sloth bear Jagger - East Idaho News