Report on Sloth Bear Habitats, Assessment of Human-Bear Conflict and Identification of Suitable Corridors for Wildlife Conservation in District Mirzapur of Uttar Pradesh

The report maps the distribution of Sloth Bears in district Mirzapur of Indian state of Uttar Pradesh. This is a first-ever published work on the distribution of any terrestrial wild animal in this region. Cumulatively 239 geospatial evidences of sloth bears (signs like scats, scratch marks and the typical bear dug-outs) were collected over a total trail of more than 26 km spanning over 5 different forest ranges-Marihan, Sukrit, Chunar, Patehara, and Dramadganj. The study indicates that although Sloth Bears are thriving in the district of Mirzapur, they face severe threats from land use changes due to anthropogenic activities like logging, mining, agriculture, encroachment and hunting. The report suggests various steps to promote sloth bear conservation, as well as address the man-bear conflict in Mirzapur.