The Bear and the Log

Sloth bear · Ranthambhore · 10 April 2026 · 5:40 to 5:43 pm

Sloth bears are the animal I see least. They are shy, mostly nocturnal, and usually a black shape going away through the bushes. This one was out twenty minutes before the park closed, and it had found a fallen log.

For three minutes it tore at the wood for whatever was living inside — nose in, claws in, completely absorbed — and never looked at us. Then the light went and so did we.

5:40 pm — a sloth bear at a fallen log

5:40 pm — a sloth bear at a fallen log

5:41 pm — nose into the wood

5:41 pm — nose into the wood

5:41 pm — digging

5:41 pm — digging

5:43 pm — still at it as the light goes

5:43 pm — still at it as the light goes

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