Cleveland Metroparks Zoo announced the birth of a female sloth bear cub, born on December 22, 2024. This marks the second cub for both mother Shiva, 10 years old, and father Balawat, 19 years old.
The cub, who was born weighing only 16 ounces, currently weighs 8.2 lbs. Sloth bear cubs are completely dependent on their mother when born and they have been bonding closely behind-the-scenes since her birth. Over the past few weeks, the cub has grown stronger and more active and is now able to climb onto mom’s back — a unique behavior of sloth bears as they learn to navigate their environment and an important milestone to achieve before the cub makes her debut at Susie’s Bear Hollow this spring.
Sloth bears are native to India and Sri Lanka and are listed as Vulnerable on the IUCN (International Union for Conservation of Nature) Red List of Threatened Species. These bears face major threats, including habitat loss and degradation due to human population growth and human-wildlife conflict.
“We are thrilled to welcome this new cub and proud to be part of the global effort to protect this species,” says Cleveland Metroparks Zoo’s Executive Director Dr. Chris Kuhar. “The public naming opportunity gives our community the ability to make an impact to secure a future for wildlife by helping to protect sloth bears in the wild.”
The public is invited to help name the cub in support of wildlife conservation of this vulnerable species. Three name options are available for voting, each carrying a special regional meaning to sloth bears’ native habitats:
- Kamali – “Perfect Lotus”
- Sahana – “Patience”
- Suhani (“Su”) – “Pleasant”
To vote guests can make a donation at clevelandmetroparks.com. Donations made during this campaign will directly support the SAFE (Saving Animals from Extinction) Sloth Bear conservation program. Specifically, funds raised will aim to help scientists better understand sloth bear distribution and range mapping to enhance conservation efforts for the species. Voting will close on March 25 at midnight.