Sloth Bears subsist primarily on termites, ants, and fruits. Sloth Bears are the only species of bear adapted specifically for myrmecophagy (ant and termite-eating; Garshelis et al. 1999a, Sacco and Van Valkenburgh 2004). Like other myrmecphagous mammals, they have especially small home ranges compared to other ursids (Joshi et al. 1995, Ratnayeke et al. 2007a, Akhtar et al. 2006b). The ratio of insects to fruits in the diet varies with the seasonal and geographical availability of each food (Baskaran et al. 1997, Joshi et al. 1997, Bargali et al. 2004, Sreekumar and Balakrishnan 2002, Mewada and Dharaiya 2010, Sukhadiya et al. 2013). Fruits may comprise 70‒90% of the diet during the fruiting season, whereas termites and other insects may comprise >80% of the diet the rest of the year (Ratnayeke et al. 2007b, Seidensticker et al. 2011, Yoganand et al. 2012).

Sloth Bears occupy a wide range of habitats on the Indian mainland including wet and dry tropical forests, savannahs, scrublands, and grasslands (Joshi et al. 1995, Sreekumar and Balakrishnan 2002, Akhtar et al. 2004, Yoganand et al. 2006, Seidensticker et al. 2011, Ramesh et al. 2012). They are primarily a lowland species. Most Sloth Bear range in India, Nepal, and Sri Lanka is limited to habitats below 1500 m, although the species may occur as high as 2,000 m in the forests of the Western Ghats (Johnsingh 2003, Seidensticker et al. 2011). In Sri Lanka, Sloth Bears are confined to the remaining dry forests in the north and eastern parts of the island, mostly below 300 m (Ratnayeke et al. 2006). In areas where forest cover is sparse but daytime temperatures are high (a large part of the range), the bear is principally nocturnal or crepuscular and shelters in rock outcrops, thickets, and tree cavities during the heat of the day. Although some Sloth Bears may be active during the day in protected areas (Joshi et al. 1999), they tend to be almost exclusively nocturnal in disturbed and fragmented forests interspersed with human habitations (Akhtar et al. 2004; Bargali et al. 2005, 2012).

Studies in Nepal and Sri Lanka suggest that Sloth Bears avoid areas where human disturbance is high, so crop depredation by Sloth Bears is uncommon (Joshi et al. 1995, Ratnayeke et al. 2007a). However, in some parts of India, Sloth Bears routinely raid peanut, maize, and fruit crops (Chhangani 2002, Akhtar et al. 2004, Bargali et al. 2004).  In some of these areas the habitats are severely degraded and affected by human exploitation, including the extraction of several food sources of the Sloth Bear.

Sloth Bears typically breed May through July, and females give birth, usually to one or two cubs, from November to January (Laurie and Seidensticker 1977, Iswariah 1984, Gopal 1991, Joshi et al. 1999, Chauhan et al. 2003, Spady et al. 2007). Cubs often ride on the mother's back during their first nine months, presumably to reduce the risk of predation. Cubs remain with their mothers for 1.5-2.5 years resulting in a 2 or 3 year interbirth interval (Joshi et al. 1999).

The Sloth Bear’s historical distribution includes a large portion of India, Bangladesh, and Sri Lanka, as well as the southern lowlands of Nepal and presumably Bhutan. Some unverified reports suggested that they once occurred in the western-most corner of present day Myanmar (Erdbrink 1953), but this was never confirmed and seems unlikely based on the mountainous habitat. Historically this species overlapped the distributions of Asiatic Black Bears (Ursus thibetanus) in northern India (Bargali et al. 2012), and with both Asiatic Black Bears and Sun Bears (Helarctos malayanus) in northeastern India (Choudhury 2011). Historical records are confusing, though, because Sloth Bears and Asiatic Black Bears look alike and were often not reliably distinguished.

India
At least 90% of the present Sloth Bear range occurs in India. Within India their distribution is constrained to the south by the ocean, to the northwest by deserts, and to the north and east by mountains. Although Sloth Bears were once common and even abundant throughout the Indian Peninsula (McTaggart Cowan 1972, Krishnan 1972, Brander 1982), their range has shrunk and densities reduced due to continuous habitat loss and human-caused mortalities. Although still found scattered across much of its former range, their actual distribution is now highly fragmented and confined mainly to five distinct regions, namely northern, northeastern, central, southeastern, and southwestern (Garshelis et al. 1999a, Johnsingh 2003, Yoganand et al. 2006, Sathyakumar et al. 2012).

The northern distribution region occurs largely within the state of Uttarakhand (Bargali 2012), but also includes the neighbouring states of Uttar Pradesh and the northwestern tip of Bihar. This northern region borders the southern and western areas of Nepal and includes trans-border populations. However, the northern region remains completely isolated from the other population regions in India due to large scale forest removal and agriculture and human settlements.

The northeastern region is the farthest east that this species occurs and is perhaps the least understood region in terms of Sloth Bear distribution. The bulk of the distribution appears to occur in the state of Assam (Choudhury 2011, Sathyakumar et al. 2012), though Sloth Bears are also known from Manipur, Megalaya and Arunachal Pradesh (where it is very rare). The fact that the distribution of Sloth Bears in this region overlaps with that of both Asiatic Black Bears and Sun Bears has made reports of Sloth Bear occurrence less reliable.

The central region is the largest region. The bulk of the distribution occurs in the states of Madhya Pradesh and Chattisgarh, but includes the states of Orissa, Andhra Pradesh, Maharashtra, Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, Jharkhand and West Bengal. Just south of this region, in the southern half of Andhra Pradesh, is the southeastern region, which occurs along the Eastern Ghats. It is not known whether bears move between the central and southeastern regions.

The southwestern area follows the Western Ghats and principally falls within the states of Maharashtra, Goa, Karnataka, Kerala and Tamil Nadu, where there may be a connection to the southeastern region. They have been observed up to 2,000 m elevation in the Western Ghats (A.J.T. Johnsingh, personal communication, in Garshelis et al. 1999a). They also stretch northwestward into Gujarat and Rajasthan.

Nepal
In Nepal, Sloth Bears are most common within the narrow strip of lowland grassland–forest mosaic called the Terai. They also range into the lower Siwaliks (maximum elevation is unknown). The bears are mainly in protected areas in the central and western portions of the Terai. Since the mid-1980s, they were thought to have been extirpated from the Sukla Phanta Wildlife Reserve in western Nepal, an area containing the largest patch of continuous grassland in Nepal (Garshelis et al. 1999b). However, during a 2013 Tiger camera trap study in the reserve a photo of a Sloth Bear was captured. Then in 2014 Sloth Bear tracks and scat were recorded in the reserve as well (Babu Ram Lamichane, National Trust for Nature Conservation—Suklaphanta Conservation Program, pers. comm., 2015). Therefore, it appears that Sloth Bears have recolonized Sulka Phanta Wildlife Reserve, likely from adjacent Piliphit Tiger Reserve in Uttar Pradesh, India, which is known to have Sloth Bears (Sathyakumar et al. 2012); alternately, Sloth Bears persisted in such small numbers that they went undetected for several years (Johnsingh 2003). Some of the Sloth Bear populations in Nepal remain connected with the Indian northern region (Sathyakumar et al. 2012).

Bangladesh
Sloth Bears have been extirpated from Bangladesh (Islam et al. 2013). The last documented records are from the mid-1990s (NCSIP-1 2001, Sarker 2006). Although they had been present in the southeastern, eastern and northeastern parts of the country, the forest patches in which they persisted have been largely removed (Sarker 2006).

Bhutan
Recent investigations suggest that if Sloth Bears occupy Bhutan, they are very rare. Garshelis et al. (1999a) mapped two populations of Sloth Bears in Bhutan, including Royal Manas National Park (RMNP) and Phipsoo Wildlife Sanctuary. Their range map was based on habitat-elevation information and purported documentation of presence.  However, due to frequent confusion in distinguishing Sloth Bears from Asiatic Black Bears, it is now apparent that this range map was wrong. Sloth Bears appear to have a much narrower range in Bhutan, if at all. One camera trap photo in RMNP, taken in 2009, 2 km from the Indian border, is the only current verified record of presence (Garshelis et al. 2015). Grasslands, which are preferred habitat for Sloth Bears (Garshelis et al. 1999 a,b; Choudhury 2011) are present in both RMNP and Phipsoo Wildlife Sanctuary, and both of these protected areas are connected to protected areas in India, known to contain sloth bears. However, it is not known whether a true trans-boundary population exists anywhere along this border, or if just a few vagrant bears occasionally come across to the Bhutan side (Garshelis et al. 2015).

Sri Lanka
The Sri Lankan Sloth Bear subspecies is distributed in the north and east sides of the island and is closely tied with forest cover (Ratnayeke et al. 2007a). Sloth Bears occupy roughly 17% of the island and there is still a high connectivity between occupied areas. However, recent civil war activities largely occurred in the northern and eastern sides of the island, which are home to the largest contiguous forest patches and which historically supported healthy Sloth Bear populations. These areas have gone largely unprotected and it is still unknown how sloth bear distribution may have been affected (Ratnayeke et al. 2006, 2007a).

Sloth Bears are listed in Appendix I of CITES and are completely protected under Schedule I of the Indian Wildlife Protection Act of 1972. They are also protected to varying degrees by national laws in the other range countries. However, they can be killed to protect life or property.

Sloth Bears are reported to exist in 174 Protected Areas (PAs) in India, which include 46 National Parks and 128 Wildlife Sanctuaries (Chauhan 2006). Populations appear to be reasonably well protected when inside these PAs, but face deteriorating habitat conditions outside (Santiapillai and Santiapillai 1990, Akhtar et al. 2004, Dharaiya, 2009). Reduced cover and food resources outside PAs (Akhtar et al. 2004) have led to increased human–bear conflicts, including frequent maulings (Bargali et al. 2005). It is estimated that half to two-thirds of the Sloth Bears in India live outside PAs. Roughly half the occupied range in Sri Lanka occurs outside PAs (Ratnayeke et al. 2007b).

Human-bear conflicts, both crop raiding and bear attacks, are a growing concern for this species. Given the aggressive nature of this animal, and the increasing number of encounters between bears and people, these bears are widely feared. Although education may help reduce human-bear conflicts and enhance a conservation ethic among locals, the root of the problem is largely related to the expansion of human settlement and deteriorating habitat, which increases the chance of interaction between people and bears. Thus, habitat improvements (government or community-based reforestation) would be helpful in alleviating such conflicts. Potential solutions to this problem have not been studied in depth and further research on this issue is critical to getting this problem under control. The planting of fruit trees, to provide both food and cover, has been undertaken in several states in India.

Other projects to help ameliorate human-bear conflicts will probably need to be implemented for a number of years to produce useful outcomes; long-term funding will thus be needed to advance the science of human-bear conflict resolution. Where sufficient human resources and funding exist, conflict rapid-response teams (staffed by NGOs, government personnel, and local people) can be effective. Safety guidelines can be devised and disseminated, based on knowledge of bear behaviour and ecology, to help people avoid bears or minimize chances of being attacked. Better methods to deter bears are also needed. Additionally, educational efforts to increase awareness and promote greater tolerance are likely to be keys to success.

Aside from the global Status Survey and Conservation Action Plan for this species, published by the IUCN in 1999 (Servheen et al. 1999), India developed a National Conservation Action Plan for bears (Sathyakumar et al. 2012). This action plan was developed through a wide range of consultations with stakeholders and covers all four species present in India. The plan emphasizes mitigation of human-bear conflicts, increased habitat management, enhanced research and information gathering, capacity building, and improved communication and education. Priority actions in the action plan include: strengthening methods of crop and livestock protection; reducing bear-caused human injuries, creating rapid response teams to investigate conflicts with bears (and possible claims for monetary compensation); enhancing human tolerance toward bears; identifying critical habitats and corridors used by bears, especially those outside PAs; increasing habitat protection and restoring degraded habitats outside PAs; reducing dependency of local communities on resources needed by bears; discouraging shifting agriculture; developing methods to track population size and trends; involving communities in bear monitoring programs; equipping forest and wildlife staff with adequate knowledge and modern equipment to manage all types of human-bear interactions; and developing an advocacy program for bear conservation through active communication to the public and pressure on corporations and politicians.