Ken: Sloth Bear Extraordinaire
Posted at 12:28 pm March 4, 2009 by Suzanne HallI had an opportunity last week to continue work on our ursid translocational stress study (see blog, Thanksgiving with Sloth Bear Buddha), by incorporating a new animal into our data collection: a sloth bear named Ken. He was moved out on exhibit in the San Diego Zoo’s Bear Canyon for the first time on Friday, February 27. Ken is an impressive animal, a good-sized bear with a long, shaggy coat that gives him the appearance of permanent “bed head.” He has a lot of energy, and I wondered if he would take his move to the exhibit space in stride.
And he did very well. Ken left no stone unturned in the first several hours of his time on exhibit. He cleared all of his food in a matter of minutes. He sniffed everywhere. He dug big holes, enough to sink his whole head and shoulders into. He broke off a piece of the climbing structure. What a bear!
When you watch Ken in action, you may get to see some of the interesting things that make sloth bears unique. His really long claws are well suited to their natural diet of insects, and tearing at termite mounds is a cinch with such treacherous toenails. He has a gap in his front teeth that, among other things, allows him to blow a focused puff of air out of his mouth really hard, an adaptation that helps him to clear dust and debris so that wriggling insects are more exposed to him. He also uses that gap to make an interesting vocalization, a type of Bronx cheer that he has been known to use to greet Zoo visitors! And why does he have such a long coat? It is thought to be an adaptation very useful for female sloth bears that carry their young on their backs. Long hair is easier for their cubs to grip, and they can hold on better while mom travels long distances looking for food.
You may recall the arrival of Ken’s brother, Bhutan (formerly named Buddha), late last year. These two boys had been housed together for many years at a private ranch in Tennessee. However, as they aged, they started to become aggressive to one another, and they cannot share an exhibit today. As such, Ken and Bhutan will rotate time on exhibit, with one bear greeting our Zoo guests while the other enjoys some quiet time in an outdoor sunroom behind the scenes. We have another sloth bear, a female named Keesha, who is currently in quarantine at our veterinary hospital. In a few weeks she will join our boys in Bear Canyon, adding a feminine dimension to our opportunity to study this vulnerable species.
We are very fortunate to have five of the eight living species of bear at the San Diego Zoo and hope that you have the opportunity to come and see them all sometime soon. March is the month we will celebrate bears with San Diego Zoo Discovery Days: Bear Bonanza (formerly Bear Awareness), and it’s a great time to learn more about all things bear. Come see Ken, Bhutan, and all of our other rare and interesting bears sometime soon!
Suzanne Hall is a senior research technician for San Diego Zoo Conservation Research.
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March 4th, 2009 at 1:01 pm
Suzanne, can we get a pic of Ken? Thank you!
March 4th, 2009 at 2:58 pm
Thank you SDZ keepers…you guys/gals the best..I love your blogs and I see you guys love your animals…and I love them too..wish I lived near by..I would defitnely be there every weekend *sigh*
March 5th, 2009 at 4:31 pm
I, too, would love to see a picture of Ken. He sounds like quite a character. Are there any hopes of breeding Keesha with either of the brother bears or are they all going to be “just friends”? (By the way, I’m glad to know that Keesha’s name is not Barbie!
)
You don’t know how much I wish I could cross the miles to come to your Bear Bonanza event. The special behind-the-scenes tours you’re offering sound like something out of my best bear dreams! Then again, I would probably faint (or weep) upon being in the same space as any of the giant pandas in particular, so it’s probably just as well that I live far away.
Thanks so much for introducing us to Ken. Maybe we’ll get to know Keesha better soon, as well?
March 5th, 2009 at 6:03 pm
Melissa,
Keesha is also a sibling of the two boys, so she will not be bred with them. However, we intend to study her reproductive cycle to learn more about sloth bear reproductive biology, and if we get future bears we might be able to have a breeding pair. The sloths are considered to be vulnerable to extinction, so we hope to aid in their conservation with solid research.
March 6th, 2009 at 2:03 pm
# 3 Melissa-that was very funny what you said about being glad that keesha’s name wasn’t barbie! sometimes people name their animals after memorable people or gansters etc. I once had two birds named bonnie and c lyde and3-gold fish named Peter, Paul, and Mary! silly me!
Ken does sound like a big old character! how old are the brother bears? and sister bear? I just love the bears! all of them! all the different species of bears!! they are all so interesting to watch and learn about.
thanks for the interesting post!
March 7th, 2009 at 9:08 am
Suzanne, thank you for answering my question about Keesha. I’ve learned so much from the SDZ website about research and conservation. It’s exciting to hear directly from the people that know the animals the best and I’m really grateful that you share your knowledge and experience with us. I’m absolutely amazed sometimes at the opportunities for learning that SDZ provides.
#5 Nancy…I’ve been known to come up with some humorous names for animals, as well. I nickname all of the neighborhood cats since I don’t know their real names. There was a long, lanky male cat that used to traverse the neighborhood with a sweet female. I called them Big Mac and McMuffin. A trio of fish named Peter, Paul and Mary is cute! I’m always interested in how zoo animals get their names, whether they have a name that derives from their native land or are simply named “Bob.” Somehow the names always seem to fit and make the animals more relatable to our human sensibilities.
March 7th, 2009 at 9:40 am
welcome, ken. a great new addition for all to enjoy.
sloth bears are comical to watch.
moderater: do they carry their cubs while walking upright, or is that another kind of bear?
thanks for all you do.
joan
painted post, n.y.
March 9th, 2009 at 10:36 am
joan #7,
Typically sloth bear cubs are carried on their mother’s back. Sun bears can cary their cubs while standing bipedal. It’s an amazing thing to see, especially when the cubs are very young. Sun bears have huge claws and yet their delicate babies are safe when held by them.
March 18th, 2009 at 7:09 pm
…housed together for many years at a private ranch in Tennessee – that sound interesting, and Ken sounds like an interesting chap. And I can just picture the “bed head” – made me LOL. Sounds like all of our bears are going great, and I look forward to hearing more about them.
May 4th, 2009 at 1:22 pm
Suzanne,
Do you know if any job shadow opportunities or opportunities to help a keeper with research are available at the San Diego Zoo?
Thanks!
Moderator’s note: Check out our volunteer section at http://www.sandiegozoo.org/volunteer/ and click on “Conservation Research volunteers”.
May 21st, 2009 at 6:25 pm
I was at the Zoo on 5/3/09, and there was a *very* playful sloth bear entertaining us all! I took a video and posted to YouTube here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sGpQTqemybM.
If this is Ken, he’s definitely my favorite zoo animal!
Keep up the terrific work.
July 22nd, 2009 at 3:25 pm
Can you tell me which enclosure Ken is usually found in? I saw both sloth bears on Monday and was trying to figure out which one was Bhutan and which one was Ken. Thanks!
August 11th, 2009 at 9:45 am
There is a very cute picture of Keesha and Bala on the Akron Zoo website introducing them. Keesha looks soooo big compared to little Bala. In the picture confident Keesha is ahead of shy little Bala. A definite Mrs. Robinson situation. I hope Keesha is gentle with my sweet little Bala.
February 27th, 2010 at 10:36 am
hello,
I just visited the San Diego Zoo yesterday and LOVE the sloth bear! He is so funny and animated! I wonder if this is Ken? Also, every time I watch the sloth bear he is shaking his head back and forth close to the wall. Why does he do this? Do all sloth bears do that or is that special to just this particular bear?
March 1st, 2010 at 12:39 pm
Ken is a very animated bear, and can be a lot of fun to watch! His brother Bhutan, found in the lower sloth bear exhibit, tends to be more quiet and shy. Often the sloth bears hang out at a door that separates the two bears on exhibit, which is probably the location you are describing. A few years back, Ken and Bhutan were housed together and so are very familiar with each other. In recent years, however, they have had bouts of aggression toward each other and so are now housed separately.
March 4th, 2010 at 8:32 am
im doing a report on the sloth bear!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!