North American Sloth Bear Population

Wonderful news! I don't like the name though, haha.

 

Safari North Wildlife Park has three Sloth Bears now. Not sure where the third on came from, though

 

It appears that 0.1 Keematee from Philadelphia was transferred to Zoo Miami at some point recently.

Spoiler: Source

Zoo Miami on Instagram: "@WildlifeSOS has officially declared October 12th as #WorldSlothBearDay! At #ZooMiami, we house 3 sloth bears - Keesha, Hank, and Keematee and are proud to call attention to the conservation and protection of this unique species (which contrary to their names, are not related to sloths!). Over the past three decades, their population has dropped by 50%, mainly due to habitat loss & fragmentation, poaching, and human-bear conflict. Raise awareness with us by posting about sloth bears, using the hashtag #WorldSlothBearDay : Tatiana Cerice"

 

I presume the plan is to pair her with Hank? Keesha is 26, so very much past breeding age, so i've been waiting years now for Miami to import a female to pair with Hank.

 

Cleveland had transfered Shiva to Columbus while they build a new Tropical and Asian bear exhibit. Balwat stayed in Cleveland but I don't know if Shala stayed in Cleveland or moved out

 

It was reported a year ago that Shala went to San Diego, so she hasn't been at Cleveland for a while.

 

I assume that the population is not managed at the subspecies level. Which bears are pure Indians or Sri Lankans?

Is Kushali Sri Lankan, as well? She wasn't on the original list.

 

Very few, if any, are purebred of either. Capron Park Zoo's former bears, Amy and Goof, were a mainland and sri lankan, respectively, and their cubs/grandcubs make up a significant portion of the population (they had three cubs, at least three grandcubs, and at least one great grandcub now, Keematee). So that's one of the three or four main lines in the sloth bear population, making up around 20% of all the sloth bears in the country, and all non-subspecific. I'm not sure if any of the other lines are purebred or not, but will do some digging and find out.

 

Kushuli was just missed by @EsserWarrior, I believe her father Randy was of mainland descendant but not sure about her mother, Tasha.

 

This individual should be the half-sister of Woodland Park Zoo's Bhutan, through mother Peanut. I don't know the name of her father, however.

Keesha at Miami should also be a full sibling of Bhutan, Knemo x Peanut.

 

Kara's father's name was Alavi

In other news, with both Andean and Polar bears having breeding success recently, I'm hoping we have at least one sloth bear litter this season as well. Miami, Philadelphia, SDZ, Columbus (and maaaybe Little Rock and Omaha) all have a chance at having cubs so fingers crossed!

 

Wonder if Cleveland has plans to breed Shavi and Balwat

 

Possibly as Shala was transferred out a while ago to San Diego so there's a chance they've been paired up again.

 

Thank you all for providing me with the extra information!

Regarding the parents, I have some of the parents filled in on the actual document, but I do not post them here, since I only have their studbook numbers and not their actual names. Letting me know the names of their parents is a huge help!

 

Which individuals do you need help with?

 

I don't think Little Rock is going to breed their sloth bears. They'll probably wait until Pabu & Zaara are sent to new zoos to start breeding again.

 

Pabu's there on breeding recommendation with Khali, so he's not going anywhere.

Zaara's now three so it's about the right time for her to be sent elsewhere. But since Little Rock are limited on space, I find it unlikely they'll breed again until Zaara is transferred.

 

I do find it an interesting choice that the SSP sent both Sahaasa and Pabu to Little Rock. Since they're both brothers, it's not like one is needed to breed with Khali versus the other. I'm not saying it's a problem for Little Rock to have both, but it's just interesting, and I wonder what (if any) options there were for one of the two brothers, especially if Little Rock is as tight on space as you say they are.

 

I agree, it was a first for me to see two full brothers sent to the same facility to potentially breed with the same female.

I assume it may have been a move based purely on companionship purposes; as Sahaasa and Pabu are displayed together.

 

As noted by @Smaggledagle in the Little Rock Zoo and Fresno Chaffee Zoo news threads, 0.1 Zaara will be moving to Fresno shortly. Her last scheduled day on exhibit in Little Rock is January 16.