The sun bears are the smallest in the bear family which weigh up to 66 kgs and measure 60 inches. These are found in lowland tropical rain forests of Vietnam, Cambodia, Thailand, Laos, Burma, Bangladesh, and many other South East Asian countries.

These have a black coat of short hair. It has a white or yellowish patch on its chest. The ears of the sun bears are smaller and rounder than those of the other bears. The sun bears are omnivores which mainly feed on termites, birds, small mammals, commercial crops, bees, berries, eggs, lizards, rodents, fruits, small vertebrates, etc.

There are an estimated 2000 to 2400 bears living in the wild today. These are endangered because of loss of habitat and have been hunted for fur and meat.

Conservation status : These bears are listed as Appendix I in CITES.