A pink balloon inside of the sloth bear habitat at the Beekse Bergen Safari Park in Hilvarenbeek, Netherlands, managed to cause a riot of fun for the bears involved, as the video below shows. Someone let their balloon escape, and it drifted into the bear habitat, where three adult sloth bears decided it was a worthy plaything.
These three curious bears cannot seem to figure out just what that mysterious pink bubble is. They bat it around a little, chase it a lot and then seem confused and distraught when it pops!
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Sloth bears are very curious by nature and seeing them playing with this balloon will show you just how intrigued they can be by an inanimate object. Even as adults, they love to play and frolic around when they are not hunting for food.
Sloth bears are native to India, Nepal and Sri Lanka, according to the Smithsonian's National Zoo & Conservation Biology Institute. They have a hippie look, with long and shaggy fur, and they are the only bear species that carries its cubs on their backs.
They eat a diet that consists of mainly ants and termites, but they do love to raid a beehive for some honey occasionally, as well.
To protect them from bee stings and termite bites, they have the special ability to fully close their nostrils, and to make things a bit easier, they are without their two front incisor teeth. This makes sucking up termites and ants super easy.
At an average length of only 5 foot, 6 inches and weighing in at 250 pounds, they're a smaller species of bear and are not yet endangered, but listed as a vulnerable species.
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Take a look at the video below, and share if you’re a fan of sloth bears!