Animal
Sun bear
The sun bear is the smallest bear in the world. It has a yellow patch on its chest like a rising sun. It climbs trees and loves honey.
The sun bear is the smallest of the world's eight kinds of bear, and it has the longest tongue. It lives in the forests of Southeast Asia, climbs trees with long curved claws, and rips open logs to find insects and honey. Every bear has its own chest patch, like a fingerprint.
Helarctos malayanus is the smallest living bear, a tree-climbing omnivore of Southeast Asian forests that feeds mainly on insects and fruit. It does not hibernate, and females can come into breeding condition several times a year. The IUCN lists it as Vulnerable, with habitat loss, poaching and the pet trade driving its decline.
Photo: Ryan E. Poplin, CC BY-SA 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons
Meet the sun bear
The sun bear is the smallest bear in the world.
It has short black fur, a pale nose and a yellow patch on its chest. People say the patch looks like the rising sun.
The sun bear is the smallest of the eight kinds of bear in the world. It is about half the size of an American black bear, weighing about 27 to 65 kilograms. Males are 10 to 20 percent bigger than females.
Its coat is short and black, with a grayish or orange muzzle. On its chest is a white, yellow or orange crescent. Many people think it looks like the rising or setting sun, which gave the bear its name. Each bear's patch is different, like a fingerprint.
Helarctos malayanus is the smallest of the eight living bear species. Britannica gives a head-and-body length of 1 to 1.2 meters, a 5-centimeter tail and a weight of 27 to 65 kilograms; San Diego Zoo Wildlife Alliance gives 23 to 65 kilograms, with males 10 to 20 percent larger.
The short, coarse, sleek coat is black apart from a pale muzzle and a chest crescent that varies from U-shaped to absent and is unique to each bear. Animal Diversity Web notes that the mark may make bears look larger during confrontations. Two subspecies are recognized by San Diego Zoo: the Bornean sun bear (H. m. euryspilus) and the Malayan sun bear (H. m. malayanus).
Quick facts
- Group
- Mammal
- Length
- 1 to 1.2 m
- Height
- up to 70 cm
- Weight
- 27 to 65 kg
Where it lives
Sun bears live in hot, wet forests in Asia.
They like to be up high in the trees. They sometimes make a nest in the branches to rest.
Sun bears live in the tropical forests of Southeast Asia, from eastern India and Bangladesh through Myanmar, Thailand, Laos, Cambodia and Vietnam to Malaysia and the islands of Sumatra and Borneo.
They spend lots of time in trees. In the Malay language, one name for the sun bear means 'he who likes to sit high'. Their forest has food all year, which is probably why sun bears do not hibernate like bears in cold places.
The IUCN Red List (assessed 2016, published 2017) lists the sun bear as extant in ten countries: Bangladesh, Brunei, Cambodia, India, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, Thailand and Vietnam. It is extinct in Singapore, and its presence in China is uncertain. Britannica locates it in Southeast Asian forests including those of Sumatra and Borneo.
San Diego Zoo notes that eastern India is the only place where sun bears, black bears and sloth bears are known to live together today. Sun bears do not hibernate, probably because tropical forests offer food year-round. Shading is by country; the bears occupy only forested parts of each.
Continent
Where can you find this animal?
- Lives here naturally · Countries and seas named by a scientific source
- Sightings recorded · Records of wild sightings (GBIF)
Lives here naturally · Countries and seas named by a scientific source
Tropical forests of Southeast Asia, from eastern India and Bangladesh to Sumatra and Borneo. In India, Bangladesh and Indonesia the bears live only in some regions. Presence in China is uncertain, and the sun bear is extinct in Singapore, which has no separate map shape; neither is shown.
Places: Bangladesh, Brunei, Cambodia, India, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar and 2 more places.
Source: iucn-red-list · checked October 2026
Sightings recorded · Records of wild sightings (GBIF)
Counts of GBIF records of wild observations (human and machine) and preserved specimens. Records include introduced populations, vagrants, escaped or released animals and misidentifications, so a country with records is not necessarily part of the native range.
Wild sightings have been recorded in Thailand, Indonesia, Malaysia, Cambodia, United States, Germany, Vietnam, India and 10 more places.
Source: gbif · checked October 2026
Range maps show where scientists say an animal lives, often country by country. An animal may live in only part of a country shown, and sightings records can include animals that wandered far from home.
What it eats
Sun bears eat bugs, fruit and honey.
They rip open logs with their claws to find insects. Then they lick them up with a very long tongue.
Sun bears are omnivores, eating both plants and animals. Most of their food is insects, such as termites and bees, and fruit. They also eat honey, earthworms, small birds, lizards and rodents.
A sun bear tears into trees with its strong jaws and long front claws to reach insects under the bark. Then its long tongue, the longest of any bear's, reaches inside to lick up insects and honey. Its jaws are even strong enough to open coconuts.
Sun bears are opportunistic omnivores. Animal Diversity Web names bees, termites and earthworms as the main part of the diet, with fruit eaten when available; San Diego Zoo emphasizes fruit and insects, with occasional small birds, honey, lizards, rodents and soft palm tissue. Animal Diversity Web adds that they may scavenge tiger kills.
Foraging relies on a powerful bite, long curved foreclaws for tearing into wood and insect nests, and an exceptionally long tongue for extracting insects and honey. Near people, sun bears may raid crops such as coconuts, oil palm and bananas, which brings them into conflict with farmers.
Did you know?
A friendly sun bear clucks like a chicken.
Adult sun bears make a clucking noise like a hen to show they are friendly.
The sun bear's contact call is a hen-like cluck that signals friendly intent.
Built for climbing
Sun bears have long, curved claws.
They help the bear climb trees and dig for food. Its nose is very good at smelling.
A sun bear's claws are about 10 centimeters long, and its big paws have hairless soles that help it climb. It walks pigeon-toed, with its feet turned inward, which suits a life in trees. Its eyes face forward more than those of long-snouted bears, which may help with climbing.
Though it lives in a hot, rainy climate, its short coat is very thick, protecting it from twigs, falls and heavy rain. Like other bears, it has an amazing sense of smell, thought to be thousands of times better than ours.
Adaptations for an arboreal life include claws about 10 centimeters long, large paws with hairless soles, a pigeon-toed gait and relatively forward-facing eyes. Animal Diversity Web describes a short, wide, flat head with small round ears and a shoulder height of about 70 centimeters.
The short coat is unusually thick and dense for a tropical mammal, which San Diego Zoo links to protection from branches, falls and heavy rain. Loose skin lets a sun bear twist around if grabbed. The sense of smell, as in other bears, is thought to be several thousand times keener than a human's.
Growing up
Baby sun bears are called cubs.
A newborn cub is tiny and has no fur. Its mother carries it and keeps it warm. Cubs stay with their mom for about two years.
Sun bears have no special breeding season. A mother usually has one cub, sometimes two, in a nest of leaves on the ground or inside a hollow log. Newborn cubs weigh only about 300 grams, and they are hairless and helpless.
The mother sometimes walks on her back legs, carrying her cub in her paws or mouth. Cubs can run and play at four to five months and stop drinking milk at about 18 months. They stay with their mother for about two years or more.
Sun bears have no fixed breeding season, and San Diego Zoo describes adult females as the only bears known to cycle several times a year. Animal Diversity Web gives a gestation of about 95 days, with evidence of delayed implantation, and litters of usually one or two; newborns weigh about 300 grams and are born blind, hairless and helpless.
Nests are made in leafy vegetation on the ground or in hollow logs. Cubs run and play at four to five months and are weaned by about 18 months. Estimates of how long they stay vary: San Diego Zoo suggests about two years, while Britannica, citing zoo studies, says about three, when they become mature and independent.
A shy tree-dweller
Sun bears like to be on their own.
They are busy mostly at night. A friendly sun bear makes a clucking sound, like a hen.
Sun bears live alone, except mothers with cubs. They are shy and mostly active at night. During the day they may rest or sunbathe in a nest in the trees, 2 to 7 meters up, although where people do not disturb them they often rest on the ground.
Sun bears make many sounds. A friendly bear clucks like a hen. An angry one barks, growls or roars. Cubs hum while they nurse. Sun bears also leave smells on trees and rocks to send messages to other bears.
Sun bears are solitary and generally nocturnal, shy but intelligent. They rest and sunbathe in trees at 2 to 7 meters, though in undisturbed areas they are more likely to rest on the ground.
Vocal communication includes a hen-like clucking contact call signaling friendly intent, barks, growls and roars in aggression, and humming by nursing cubs. Chemical signals matter too: sun bears anoint themselves with urine, saliva or food remains, rub against trees and rocks to leave hair and scent, and sniff other bears' urine and feces to gather information.
Did you know?
A sun bear mom can walk on two legs and carry her cub.
Sun bear mothers sometimes walk upright, carrying their cubs in their paws or mouth.
Mothers sometimes walk bipedally while carrying cubs in their forepaws or mouth to move them between sites.
Helping sun bears
There are fewer sun bears than before.
Their forests are being cut down. People are working to protect them and the trees they live in.
The IUCN lists the sun bear as Vulnerable. Nobody knows exactly how many are left, because they are shy and hard to find, but scientists think their numbers have dropped by more than 30 percent in the last 30 years.
Forests are cleared for farms and logging. Some bears are hunted for their meat and body parts, and cubs are taken for the pet trade. Hunting sun bears is illegal, but the laws are not always enforced. Conservation groups study sun bears, teach people about them and work toward palm oil farming that is better for wildlife.
The IUCN lists Helarctos malayanus as Vulnerable (criteria A2cd+3cd+4cd) with a decreasing population. Its secretive habits mean numbers are unknown, but San Diego Zoo reports an estimated decline of more than 30 percent over 30 years.
Threats include habitat loss from farming and logging, poaching for meat and for body parts used in traditional medicine, capture of cubs for the pet trade, and conflict over crops such as oil palm. Hunting is illegal but rarely enforced. Responses include conservation breeding, research, education programs in Asia and efforts toward sustainable palm oil.
IUCN Red List
How is the sun bear doing in the wild?
- Least Concern
- Near Threatened
- Vulnerable (this animal)
- Endangered
- Critically Endangered
- Extinct in the Wild
- Extinct
Vulnerable
At high risk of disappearing from the wild.
See the IUCN Red List assessment · The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species 2022.2
Amazing facts
-
A friendly sun bear clucks like a chicken.
Adult sun bears make a clucking noise like a hen to show they are friendly.
The sun bear's contact call is a hen-like cluck that signals friendly intent.
-
A sun bear mom can walk on two legs and carry her cub.
Sun bear mothers sometimes walk upright, carrying their cubs in their paws or mouth.
Mothers sometimes walk bipedally while carrying cubs in their forepaws or mouth to move them between sites.
-
Sun bears have the longest tongues of all bears.
Even though sun bears are the smallest bears, they have the longest tongues, perfect for licking honey and insects from inside trees.
The smallest bear has the longest tongue of any bear species, an adaptation for extracting insects and honey.
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Sun bears do not sleep all winter.
Sun bears do not hibernate, probably because their tropical forests have food all year round.
Unlike many temperate bears, sun bears do not hibernate, probably because food is available year-round in the tropics.
Words to know
- omnivore
- an animal that eats both plants and animals
- arboreal
- living in trees
- crescent
- a curved shape like a thin moon
- hibernate
- to spend the winter in a long, deep sleep
- vulnerable
- facing a high risk of dying out in the wild
- pet trade
- the buying and selling of animals as pets
Discovery challenge
-
Which bear is the smallest?
Which is the smallest of the world's eight bear species?
Which bear species is the smallest living bear?
- Polar bear
- Sun bear
- Brown bear
Show the answer
Sun bear
The sun bear is the smallest bear.
The sun bear, about half the size of an American black bear.
Helarctos malayanus, at 27 to 65 kilograms.
-
Where did the sun bear get its name?
What gave the sun bear its name?
Which feature gives the sun bear its common name?
- Its chest patch
- Its yellow tail
- It only comes out at noon
Show the answer
Its chest patch
Its chest patch looks a bit like the sun.
Its chest crescent, which many people think looks like the rising or setting sun.
The pale chest crescent, which varies between individuals.
-
What helps a sun bear lick up honey?
Which body part helps a sun bear reach honey and insects inside trees?
Which adaptation helps sun bears extract insects and honey from tight places?
- A very long tongue
- A trunk
- Webbed feet
Show the answer
A very long tongue
A very long tongue!
Its tongue, the longest of any bear's.
An exceptionally long tongue, used with strong claws and jaws.
-
Why don't sun bears sleep all winter?
Why don't sun bears hibernate?
What best explains the sun bear's lack of hibernation?
- Their forests have food all year
- They are always cold
- They live underwater
Show the answer
Their forests have food all year
Their warm forests have food all year.
Tropical forests provide food all year, which is probably why they don't hibernate.
Year-round food in tropical habitats is the probable reason.
Places where you might see it
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Watch
Country
Indonesia
Indonesia is a country of about 17,500 islands in Southeast Asia, spread across the Equator between the Indian and Pacific oceans. It has more than 100 active volcanoes, rainforests full of wildlife, and about 286 million people (2025).
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Watch
Country
Malaysia
Malaysia is a country in Southeast Asia, just north of the Equator. One part is on the Malay Peninsula and the other is on the island of Borneo. It has rainforests, huge caves, Mount Kinabalu and the city of Kuala Lumpur, with about 34.4 million people (2026).
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Watch
Country
Vietnam
Vietnam stretches about 1,650 kilometers along the coast of Southeast Asia, with mountains in the west and two great river deltas, the Red River in the north and the Mekong in the south. About 102.3 million people lived there in 2025. Its capital is Hanoi, and its largest city is Ho Chi Minh City.
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Watch
Country
Laos
Laos is a landlocked country in mainland Southeast Asia, covered mostly by forested mountains. The Mekong River runs along its western side, and most people live in villages and grow rice. Its capital, Vientiane, stands on the Mekong.
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Watch
Country
Brunei
Brunei is a small country on the north coast of the island of Borneo, in Southeast Asia. Most of it is covered in rainforest, where proboscis monkeys and sun bears live. Its capital has a famous water village built on stilts, and about 459,000 people lived in Brunei in 2025.
Explore next
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Animal
Sloth bear
The sloth bear is a shaggy, black bear of the forests and grasslands of India, Nepal and Sri Lanka. It is a bear that specializes in eating termites and ants: it digs open their nests with long claws and sucks them up through a gap in its front teeth. Mother sloth bears carry their cubs on their backs.
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Watch
Animal
Asian black bear
The Asian black bear is a black bear with a cream crescent on its chest, shaped like a new moon. It lives in forests and mountains from Iran and Pakistan across the Himalayas and Southeast Asia to China, Korea, Japan and the Russian Far East. It eats mostly plants, especially fruit and nuts, and in cold places it sleeps through the winter.
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Animal
Spectacled bear
The spectacled bear, or Andean bear, is the only bear that lives in South America. It is named for the pale markings that ring the eyes of many bears, like a pair of glasses. It lives in the forests of the Andes Mountains, climbs trees, builds platforms in branches and eats mostly fruit and bromeliads.
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Watch
Country
Indonesia
Indonesia is a country of about 17,500 islands in Southeast Asia, spread across the Equator between the Indian and Pacific oceans. It has more than 100 active volcanoes, rainforests full of wildlife, and about 286 million people (2025).
-
Watch
Country
Malaysia
Malaysia is a country in Southeast Asia, just north of the Equator. One part is on the Malay Peninsula and the other is on the island of Borneo. It has rainforests, huge caves, Mount Kinabalu and the city of Kuala Lumpur, with about 34.4 million people (2026).
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Watch
3D
Animal
Western honey bee
The western honey bee lives in big families called colonies, with one queen and many workers. Workers collect nectar and pollen from flowers, turn nectar into honey, and tell each other where food is by dancing. As they travel, they pollinate many plants, including crops people eat.
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Watch
Country
Vietnam
Vietnam stretches about 1,650 kilometers along the coast of Southeast Asia, with mountains in the west and two great river deltas, the Red River in the north and the Mekong in the south. About 102.3 million people lived there in 2025. Its capital is Hanoi, and its largest city is Ho Chi Minh City.
-
Watch
Country
Laos
Laos is a landlocked country in mainland Southeast Asia, covered mostly by forested mountains. The Mekong River runs along its western side, and most people live in villages and grow rice. Its capital, Vientiane, stands on the Mekong.
For parents & teachers
What children will learn
- Describe the sun bear's features and how they suit a life in trees.
- Explain what sun bears eat and how they find it.
- Compare the sun bear with other bears (size, hibernation, diet).
- Understand why sun bears are Vulnerable and how forests can be protected.
Recommended ages: 3 to 17 · About 15 minutes
Talk about it
- Why might a bear that lives in a hot forest not need to hibernate?
- Why do you think every sun bear has a different chest patch?
- How could choices about products like palm oil affect animals far away?
Try at home or in class
- Draw your own sun bear with a unique chest patch, then compare with others to see that no two match.
- Hunt for 'insects' (raisins) hidden in a cardboard tube using only a long spoon, like a sun bear's tongue.
Key vocabulary: omnivore, arboreal, crescent, hibernate, vulnerable, pet trade
Where these facts come from
- The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species , International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN terms of use (no redistribution of Red List data or range maps))
- GBIF Backbone Taxonomy and GBIF Occurrence Search , Global Biodiversity Information Facility (CC0 1.0 (backbone); occurrence counts are facts derived from records under CC0, CC BY and CC BY-NC)
- Helarctos malayanus (Sun Bear), 2016 assessment (errata version 2018) , IUCN Red List of Threatened Species
- Sun Bear , San Diego Zoo Wildlife Alliance
- Sun bear , Encyclopaedia Britannica
- Helarctos malayanus , Animal Diversity Web, University of Michigan Museum of Zoology
- Wikidata , Wikimedia Foundation (CC0 1.0)
- Wikimedia Commons , Wikimedia Foundation (Per file: Public domain, CC0, CC BY or CC BY-SA only (credited on each page))
Checked, not yet human-reviewed. Last updated October 24, 2026. Spotted a mistake? Tell us.