Sloth bears have specialist foraging adaptations for extracting insects from nests, requiring carefully designed enrichment to meet these species-specific behavioural needs in captivity.
Sloth bears are obligate specialists whose physical and cognitive adaptations are oriented toward complex foraging. Captive environments that fail to provide equivalent challenge create welfare deficits manifesting as stereotypic behaviour and depressed affect. Designed enrichment using termite-mound analogues, honey-filled log puzzles, and buried food items engages natural foraging sequences more effectively than simply providing food in bowls.