Nepal's wildlife authority on Tuesday denied media reports that a sloth bear rescued from Siraha district in the southern part of the country few months ago has been receiving ill-treatment at the Central Zoo situated in Lalitpur district of Kathmandu.
"The sloth bear has been shifted to a larger cage a couple of months ago and we are taking every possible care of it," Chiranjibi Prasad Pokharel, director at the Central Zoo, told PTI.
Pokharel said the wildlife experts at the zoo are taking care of the bear.
"The health of the bear is sound... We are providing healthy food such as bread, milk, raw sugar and fruits to the animal every day," he said.
The zoo has four other sloth bears and four Himalayan bears at display to the visitors. However, the rescued bear has been put in a separate cage.
Responding to a question regarding sending the bear to India, he said there was no proof that the bear belongs to the southern neighbour.
"Such type of sloth bear is also found in Nepal," he said. "When the Siraha District Forest office handed the bear to the zoo, it was mentioned that the rescued bear is from Nepal."