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WCB Research Lab, Department of Life Sciences, Hemchandracharya North Gujarat University
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Gut microbial diversity of Asian bears is poorly studied; most studies have been conducted on brown bears and other European and American bear species. The goal of this research project by the Wildlife and Conservation Biology (WCB) Research lab is to study the gut microbial diversity of wild and captive Sloth bears in order to understand and compare microbial diversity.

The scat samples of wild sloth bears will be collected from Jessore wildlife sanctuary, in Gujarat state, which is known for the high density of Sloth bears in India. The samples of captive sloth bears will be collected from various zoos and bear rescue facilities in India. Fresh scats will be collected in a sterile bottle containing normal saline solution, and the microbial isolation will be carried out by conventional microbiological methods. Further identification will be done using Vitek-2 compact, an automated rapid identification system used for microbial identification. Genotypic analysis will be performed using 16s rRNA analysis by Sanger sequencing, followed by data analysis using BLASTN.

Microbiome biology is currently a relatively unexplored subject in conservation biology, but it has immense promise for understanding the effects of habitat degradation and nutrient availability. The findings will help to the zoos worldwide where the Sloth bears are kept and the State Forest Department to understand the health status of wild Sloth bears and their seasonal nutritional requirements.

Sloth bear (Melursus ursinus) habitat is being degraded and fragmented in the Indian sub-continent. More than 85% of the Sloth bear population occurs in India, which is facing multiple threats such as habitat fragmentation, degradation and human-sloth bear conflict. While protected Sloth bear habitats are studied well, Sloth bear ranges in unprotected area have a lack of information and research. It is very important to understand the status and movement of Sloth bears in non-protected areas for conservation actions.

Previous studies also reveal that most of the Sloth bear attacks are prevailing in the non-protected areas and in the villages on the fringes of forests. The present research, carried out by WCB Lab, Department of Life Sciences, Hemchandracharya North Gujarat University, aims to study habitat quality, movement of Sloth bear and Human-Bear  Conflicts in non-protected areas of Gujarat state of western India. It is felt that the findings of this research study would be lighten up status of Sloth bear and its habitat in Gujarat and would be also helpful in preparing conservation and management plans for such non-protected forest areas of the state, focusing on Sloth bear conservation and mitigating Human-Bear Conflicts.

Bears in Mind financially supports the research by WCB Lab in India since 2022.