(H. m. malayanus) Malayan sun bear

(H. m. euryspilus) Bornean sun bear

The range of the sun bear is bound by northeastern India in the north and extends south to southeast through Bangladesh, Cambodia, Myanmar, Laos, Thailand and Vietnam in mainland Asia to Brunei, Indonesia and Malaysia to the south.

The current range is threatened by heavy deforestation and illegal hunting for both food and wildlife trade. Too, the sun bear is harmed with conflicts with humans when they enter farmlands, plantations and orchards.

The total population is estimated to have declined in the last twenty-five years by more than a third.

The sun bear is native to the tropical forests of Southeast Asia and dwell in two types of forests, deciduous and seasonally evergreen forests to the north of the Isthmus of Kra. The sun bear are normally found at altitudes below 3,900 feet in western Thailand and Malaysia. However, in India, a large number are recorded in elevations up to 9,800 feet rather than lower elevations, which is most likely due to habitat losses in the low elevations.

It is the smallest of all bears, with the head-and-body length is between 39 and 55 inches, standing nearly 28 inches at the shoulder and adults weigh from 55 to 143 pounds. The sun bear is stockily built, with large paws, strongly curved claws, small rounded ears and a short snout.

The snout is grey, silver or orange. The fur is silky and fine, and is generally jet-black, but can vary from grey to red. The characteristic chest patch, typically U-shaped but sometimes circular or spotlike, varies from orange or ochre-yellow to buff or cream, or even white. Some individuals may even lack the patch.

Its unique morphology, the inward-turned front feet, flattened chest, powerful fore limbs with large claws, which makes it the most arboreal of all bears.