Diet
The diet of the sun bear consists mainly of invertebrates and fruits but as omnivores they will eat a wide variety of foods including small vertebrates, such as lizards, birds, and turtles, eggs, the young tips of palm trees, nests of bees, berries, sprouts, roots, and coconuts. In fact, sun bears have been observed to eat over 100 insect species and over 50 plant species.
Despite being able to eat many leaves, the sun bear has certain favourite food sources. This was demonstrated in a study where termites, ants, beetles and beetle larvae made up the majority of the invertebrates eaten, whilst figs were the most important fruit source consumed. They eat termites by thrusting their paws into termite mounds and licking them off their paws.
The sun bear's fondness for honey gives rise to its alternative name of the 'honey bear'. In Malay and Indonesian, it is known as 'Beruang Madu' which translates to honey bear.
Its powerful jaws can crack open nuts. Its long, powerful claws are used to break into tree trunks and fallen logs to access honey, grubs and termites. Much of the sun bear's food must be detected using its keen sense of smell, as its sight is poor.
Read more about this topic: Sun Bear
Famous quotes containing the word diet:
“The pills are a mother, but better,
every color and as good as sour balls.
I’m on a diet from death.”
—Anne Sexton (1928–1974)
“Literary tradition is full of lies about poverty—the jolly beggar, the poor but happy milkmaid, the wholesome diet of porridge, etc.”
—Mason Cooley (b. 1927)
“I learned from my two years’ experience that it would cost incredibly little trouble to obtain one’s necessary food, even in this latitude; that a man may use as simple a diet as the animals, and yet retain health and strength.... Yet men have come to such a pass that they frequently starve, not for want of necessaries, but for want of luxuries.”
—Henry David Thoreau (1817–1862)