Ajay Kumar at 16:50, 29 August 2023

2023-08-29T16:50:47Z

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{{Short description|Subspecies of carnivore}}
{{Subspeciesbox
| name = Himalayan black bear
| image = Himalayan bear.jpg
| status = VU
| status_system = IUCN
| status_ref = <ref>{{cite web|url=https://ancadarchula.gov.np/media/download_attachment/Himalayan_Black_Bear__Report_ANCA2.pdf|title=Hinalayan black bear report|website=ancardchula.gov.np|access-date=2023-02-10|archive-date=2022-07-06|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220706010548/http://ancadarchula.gov.np/media/download_attachment/Himalayan_Black_Bear__Report_ANCA2.pdf|url-status=live}}</ref>
<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.wwfindia.org/about_wwf/enablers/traffic/resources/species_in_focus/bears/#:~:text=It%20is%20classed%20by%20the,hunting%20for%20its%20body%20parts|title=Bears - WWF-India|website=wwfindia.org|access-date=2023-02-10|archive-date=2023-02-08|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230208032458/https://www.wwfindia.org/about_wwf/enablers/traffic/resources/species_in_focus/bears/#:~:text=It%20is%20classed%20by%20the,hunting%20for%20its%20body%20parts|url-status=live}}</ref>
| genus = Ursus
| species = thibetanus
| species_link = Asian black bear
| subspecies = laniger
| authority = [[Reginald Innes Pocock|Pocock]], 1932
| synonyms = {{species list|Selenarctos thibetanus laniger|Pocock, 1932<ref>{{cite journal |last=Pocock |first=R. I. |author-link=Reginald Innes Pocock |title=The Black and Brown Bears of Europe and Asia: Part II |journal=The Journal of the Bombay Natural History Society |year=1932 |volume=36 |issue=1 |pages=115–116 |url=https://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/page/48198944 |access-date=2018-02-21 |archive-date=2017-08-05 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170805192100/http://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/page/48198944 |url-status=live }}</ref>}}
}}

== Description ==
The '''Himalayan black bear''' ('''''Ursus thibetanus laniger''''') is a subspecies of the [[Asian black bear]]. It is distinguished from ''[[Tibetan black bear|U. t. thibetanus]]'' by its longer, thicker fur and smaller, whiter chest mark.<ref name="pocock">{{cite journal |last=Pocock |first=R. I. |author-link=Reginald Innes Pocock |year=1941 |title=The Fauna of British India, including Ceylon and Burma |url=https://archive.org/stream/PocockMammalia2/pocock2#page/n223/mode/2up |journal=[[Mammalia (journal)|Mammalia]] |location=London |publisher=[[Taylor & Francis|Taylor and Francis]] |volume=2}}</ref> The species is considered an ecological indicator and a keystone species of the environment.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Charoo |first=Samina A. |last2=Sharma |first2=Lalit K. |last3=Sathyakumar |first3=S. |date=November 2011 |title=Asiatic black bear–human interactions around Dachigam National Park, Kashmir, India |url=http://dx.doi.org/10.2192/ursus-d-10-00021.1 |journal=Ursus |volume=22 |issue=2 |pages=106–113 |doi=10.2192/ursus-d-10-00021.1 |issn=1537-6176}}</ref> The species plays a vital role as a primary seed disperser in maintaining the stability of the ecosystem.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Koike |first=Shinsuke |last2=Morimoto |first2=Hideto |last3=Kozakai |first3=Chinatsu |last4=Arimoto |first4=Isao |last5=Yamazaki |first5=Koji |last6=Iwaoka |first6=Masahiro |last7=Soga |first7=Masashi |last8=Koganezawa |first8=Masaaki |date=March 2012 |title=Seed removal and survival in Asiatic black bear Ursus thibetanus faeces: effect of rodents as secondary seed dispersers |url=https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.2981/10-049 |journal=Wildlife Biology |language=en |volume=18 |issue=1 |pages=24–34 |doi=10.2981/10-049 |issn=1903-220X}}</ref> On average, they measure from {{convert|56|to|65|in|cm}} nose to tail and weigh from {{convert|200|to|265|lb|kg}}, though they may weigh as much as {{convert|400|lb|kg|abbr=off}} in the fall, when they are fattening up for hibernation.<ref name="Bears Of The World">{{cite web |last1=Bears Of The World |title=Himalayan Black Bear |url=http://www.bearsoftheworld.net/himalayan_black_bears.asp |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150320190723/http://www.bearsoftheworld.net/himalayan_black_bears.asp |archive-date=20 March 2015 |access-date=20 March 2015 |publisher=Bears Of The World}}</ref>

The Himalayan Black Bear is typically a nocturnal and elusive mammal although it has been also observed during the day.<ref name=":0">{{Cite journal |last=Zahoor |first=Babar |last2=Liu |first2=Xuehua |last3=Kumar |first3=Lalit |last4=Dai |first4=Yunchuan |last5=Tripathy |first5=Bismay Ranjan |last6=Songer |first6=Melissa |date=July 2021 |title=Projected shifts in the distribution range of Asiatic black bear (Ursus thibetanus) in the Hindu Kush Himalaya due to climate change |url=http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.ecoinf.2021.101312 |journal=Ecological Informatics |volume=63 |pages=101312 |doi=10.1016/j.ecoinf.2021.101312 |issn=1574-9541}}</ref> It hibernates throughout the winter in the northwestern Himalayas while it is usually active during the entire year in the eastern Himalayas.

==Distribution and Habitat ==
The species' fossilized remains were discovered in Germany and France, but currently, it only exists in Asia, mainly confined in the [[Himalayas]] of [[India]], [[Bhutan]], [[Nepal]], [[China]], and [[Pakistan]]. During the summer, black bears can be found in warmer areas in Nepal, China, Bhutan, India and Tibet up near the timberline. The species prefers moist temperate forest mixed with deciduous broad-leaved forest, and mixture of oak, and thick dense under layer of shrubby vegetation between 1500 m to 3000 m elevation, and subtropical pine forest between 900 m to 1700 m elevation.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Waseem |first=Muhammad |last2=Mahmood |first2=Tariq |last3=Hussain |first3=Abid |last4=Hamid |first4=Abdul |last5=Akrim |first5=Faraz |last6=Andleeb |first6=Shaista |last7=Fatima |first7=Hira |date=2020 |title=Ecology and Human Conflict of Asiatic Black Bear (Ursus thibetanus laniger) in Mansehra District, Pakistan |url=https://dx.doi.org/10.17582/journal.pjz/20180209100205 |journal=Pakistan Journal of Zoology |volume=52 |issue=4 |doi=10.17582/journal.pjz/20180209100205 |issn=0030-9923|doi-access=free }}</ref> For winter, they descend as low as {{convert|5,000|ft|m|abbr=off}}, to more tropical forests. The species might with the distribution of ''U''. ''t''. ''thibetanus'' across Myanmar and northeast India to possibly Nepal in the Himalayan range.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Kadariya |first=Rabin |last2=Shimozuru |first2=Michito |last3=Maldonado |first3=Jesús E. |last4=Moustafa |first4=Mohamed Abdallah Mohamed |last5=Sashika |first5=Mariko |last6=Tsubota |first6=Toshio |date=2018-12-05 |title=High genetic diversity and distinct ancient lineage of Asiatic black bears revealed by non-invasive surveys in the Annapurna Conservation Area, Nepal |url=https://journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0207662 |journal=PLOS ONE |language=en |volume=13 |issue=12 |pages=e0207662 |doi=10.1371/journal.pone.0207662 |issn=1932-6203 |pmc=6281213 |pmid=30517155}}</ref>

==Behavior and ecology==
[[File:Himalayan bear in sikkim.jpg|thumb|left|alt=Himalayan black bear in Khangchendzonga National Park|Himalayan black bear in [[Khangchendzonga National Park]]]]
[[File:The Himalayan black bear (Ursus thibetanus) is a rare subspecies of the Asiatic black bear. 21.jpg|thumb|Bears playing or fighting in the water]]

===Diet===
Several authors reported that the bear shifts their habitats following a change in food abundance, i.e., the seasonal migration of bears at different altitudes change with the food availability. They are [[omnivorous]] creatures (like most bears) and will eat just about anything. Their diet consists of [[acorn]]s, [[nut (fruit)|nut]]s, [[fruit]], [[honey]], [[root]]s, and various insects such as [[termites]] and [[beetle]] [[larvae]]. If food is scarce, they may turn to eating [[livestock]] such as sheep, goats, and cattle.<ref name="Bears Of The World"/> In spring black bear nourishes itself by using juicy flora; following summer it takes insects, fruits, and different vegetation while in autumn it feeds on nuts and acorns, simultaneously taking a high ratio of meat. During autumn, it moves and covers a long distance to explore food for survival just before the hibernation when food requirements increase, resulting in high conflict by the end of autumn.

It is physiologically adapted for arboreal feeding, with its relatively heavy front quarters and short curved claws providing support for its frugivorous feeding habits (Mattson 1998). The species mainly ate soft mast (e.g., ''Prunus spp., Rubus spp., Machilus spp. and Ziziphus spina-christi)'', hard mast (e. g. ''Quercus spp., Pinus spp., Fagus spp. and Juglans spp''.), green vegetation, crops (such as maize, millet and potato), cultivated fruits (date palm, pear, banana, papaya, apple and peach), mammals and insects.

===Breeding===
They reach [[sexual maturity]] at approximately three years. Mating occurs in October with usually two cubs born in February, while the mother is still hibernating. The offspring usually stay with their mother into the second year.<ref name="Bears Of The World"/>

==Status, Threats and Future Conservation Implications ==
This subspecies is listed as 'vulnerable' due to encroachment of human population, [[forest fires]] and the [[timber industry|timber industries]]; these have all reduced the bear's habitat. There is also a high mortality rate among the newborn. And even though hunting of the black bear has been forbidden since 1977, there is still a large problem with poaching.<ref name="Bears Of The World"/>

Over the last thirty years, the world black bear population has declined by 30–40% and it is predicted that the same rate will continue for the next thirty years unless effective conservation measures are implemented.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Steinmetz |first=Robert |last2=Garshelis |first2=David L. |date=April 2008 |title=Distinguishing Asiatic Black Bears and Sun Bears by Claw Marks on Climbed Trees |url=http://www.bioone.org/doi/abs/10.2193/2007-098 |journal=Journal of Wildlife Management |language=en |volume=72 |issue=3 |pages=814–821 |doi=10.2193/2007-098 |issn=0022-541X}}</ref> Habitat fragmentation, habitat loss and destruction, conversion of bear habitat into agricultural land as well as other anthropogenic pressures are significantly influencing the black bear population and its habitat <ref>{{Cite journal |last=Bista |first=Rabindra |last2=Aryal |first2=Achyut |date=2013-03-01 |title=Status of the Asiatic black bear Ursus thibetanus in the southeastern region of the Annapurna Conservation Area, Nepal |url=https://doi.org/10.1080/21658005.2013.774813 |journal=Zoology and Ecology |volume=23 |issue=1 |pages=83–87 |doi=10.1080/21658005.2013.774813 |issn=2165-8005}}</ref> Climate change is predicted to cause a shift in the existing suitable area or increase the suitable area for the Asiatic black bears, leading to disturbances in habitat connectivity.

Therefore, it is necessary to establish climate refugia and corridors that can enhance connectivity between countries and facilitate the dispersal of bear populations. Research suggests that more than 70% of suitable habitat in the Himalyan Black Bear habitat will remain as climate refugia in the future, but a reduction of more than 25% in suitable habitat could be challenging, especially in cases of transboundary bear populations.<ref name=":0" /> Various conservation agencies of Himalayan black bear countries can facilitate to work together and develop corridors to enhance connectivity between them. The protection and management of selected hotspot areas with significant intact habitat can also provide more area and facilitate dispersal among populations, leading to an increase in the chances of gene flow that results in genetic diversity and an increase in population size of the species. Current nature reserves/protected areas should be upgraded by connecting adjacent suitable habitats. In countries with low bear populations, such as Nepal and Bangladesh, the reduction in suitable habitat could be most severe.<ref name=":0" /> Thus, establishing movement corridors between these protected areas is a key means for helping to conserve this species.

==References==
{{Reflist}}

==External links==
* Himalayan black bear [https://bigcatrescue.org/himalayan-bear-killed-by-tiger/ versus] [[Bengal tiger]] at [[Jigme Dorji National Park]], Bhutan

{{Taxonbar|from=Q11954112}}

[[Category:Mammals described in 1932]]
[[Category:Asiatic black bears]]
[[Category:Carnivorans of Asia]]
[[Category:Mammals of India]]
[[Category:Mammals of Pakistan]]
[[Category:Mammals of Nepal]]
[[Category:Fauna of the Himalayas]]

Himalayan black bear - Revision history

Ajay Kumar at 16:50, 29 August 2023