By Freya Coombes
THIS SUN bear might be the world’s smallest breed of bear but as these raspberry pics show it makes up for its dinky size by the length of its ten-inch tongue.
One image taken from just nine-feet away shows the sun bear showing off its long tongue, sticking it out and pulling a raspberry at the photographer.
The sun bear is the worlds smallest bear, growing only 28 inches tall and weighing only 143 pounds. Their tongue grows to ten inches longallowing them to extract insects and honey from small places.
These images were captured by photographer and pension specialist Tom van der Kloet (33) at Burgers’ Zoo in The Netherlands, using a Canon R5 camera.
“I was aiming to get a nice head-on shot of one of the sun bears walking my way,” said Tom.
“I always try to predict as best I can which way an animal will go, so I can line myself up to take the shots I want.
“This time was no different, but then it suddenly sat down and out came that massive tongue.
“I was glad I already had my camera lined up, as the whole moment lasted maybe 10 to 15 seconds.
“It’s always that moment of “did I get it” and then the relief when I see the back of the camera screen and I see that I managed to snap what I hoped to.
“Especially during unique moments like this that I know won’t likely happen again soon.”
ENDS
