There wasn't much public fuss when he was born at the National Zoo earlier this year. And most visitors have since wandered upon him by accident. But come fall, sloth bear Balawat and his parents will star in a new, high-profile "digging" exhibit -- the first animals people will see as they stroll through the zoo's pedestrian entrance on Connecticut Avenue NW.
Balawat, known as Bala, was born Jan. 9, exactly six months after the zoo's popular giant panda cub, Tai Shan, was born. Both are about to get expanded quarters as part of Asia Trail, the $53 million upper zoo overhaul that is opening Oct. 17.
People throughout the world know about Tai Shan, who now is more than a year old. He's the zoo's first surviving giant panda cub, black and white and loved all over. But he is up a tree napping most of the day, and he's supposed to be sent to China after he turns 2.
Bala, by contrast, has a shaggy coat of dark brown fur and a long, narrow nose. He spends much of his day in constant motion -- digging, exploring, climbing and trying to catch a ride on his mother's back. And he's going to be around for a while.
"The panda cub is cuter in photographs, but the sloth bear cub is cuter in person," said keeper Tracey Barnes, repeating the assessment made by a group of children who visited both bear exhibits this summer.
For years, visitors have had to make a special effort to find the sloth bears, which live toward the southern end of the animal park in Beaver Valley. But Barnes predicts that when father Merlin, mother Hana and their first surviving cub debut in a new setting -- on prime real estate along the zoo's main pedestrian thoroughfare, Olmstead Walk -- Bala will come into his own.
"He's going to be a big celebrity," she said. "Most people just happen across us down here. But once they discover him, they can't pull themselves away."
Improved enclosure can do wonders
When Asia Trail opens next month, the sloth bears will join other animals indigenous to that part of the world, including giant pandas, red pandas, fishing cats, small-clawed otters and clouded leopards, an elusive species that hasn't been exhibited at the zoo's Rock Creek Park complex since 1980.
Sloth bears, considered a vulnerable species, are native to the forests and grasslands of Sri Lanka, Bangladesh, Bhutan and Nepal. Although cubs Bala and Tai Shan are fairly comparable in weight, 71 pounds and 65 pounds, respectively, male sloth bears are generally larger than giant pandas. Merlin, for instance, is a hefty 369 pounds compared with Tian Tian, the male panda, who weighs about 275 pounds.
The stocky bears are uniquely equipped for feeding on insects and worms. They use their long claws to dig out insect mounds, blow the dirt away and suck prey up into their hollowed palate like a vacuum cleaner.
The new exhibit is designed to let the sloth bears be sloth bears -- and to give the public an unobstructed view of how they live. There will be a digging pit with a glass front, and visitors will be able to watch Bala and his parents forage and suck insects through tubes. A stream, pools and lots of trees for climbing will offer chances for adventure.
The bears' current and future quarters are a distinct improvement over the decrepit cement and iron exhibit that was their home for decades. That crumbling, unheated enclosure, built in 1902, was torn down, and the sloth bears were moved about two years ago to a renovated space with heated dens.
Barnes, 42, a 12-year veteran keeper, said the change did wonders. The staff thought Hana, nearly 11, was infertile because she and Merlin, 24, who was born at the zoo, had never produced any offspring. But once the bears got into warmer quarters, "Bingo, we have cubs," Barnes said.
The first cub was born last year but lived only a couple of days. As with the giant pandas, the veterinarians couldn't be sure this year whether Hana was pregnant again. Unlike at the Panda House, there was no overnight pregnancy watch and no elaborate video system where the sloths were kept.
'Such a little boy'
Still, the lone camera in her den caught a glimpse of "a little black spot." The staff heard noisy "trilling," the sound, akin to a broken fan belt, of a cub nursing. A zoo donor named him Balawat (pronounced ba-la-VHAT), which means power or powerful in Sri Lanka's Sinhalese language.
Bala stayed in the den for about two months, and Hana initially was very protective. The two emerged for public viewing this spring, with the cub clinging to his mother.
In the wild, a cub will ride around on its mother's back for nine months. But Hana, who at 179 pounds is considered small, started discouraging this piggy-back activity when Bala was 7 months old.
"For her, he's heavy," Barnes said. "It would be like carrying a 1 1/2 -year-old around."
Bala is a quick learner and has taken to the zoo's "target training." This is an animal management technique that rewards Bala with praise and treats when he holds up his paws or opens his mouth -- actions that are extremely useful for veterinarian exams.
Since there is little data on sloth bear cubs, zoo volunteers are conducting a behavioral watch on Bala, noting his daytime actions and tracking his nonstop play.
"He gets entangled in the trees, and you're sure he's going to fall -- but he doesn't," said Barnes. "He's such a little boy."
