Himalayan brown bear
Brown bear is one of the eight different species of bears in the word, and it is widely
distributed on the northern hemisphere, and it is found in Europe, North America and
Asia. In Asia the brown bear (Ursus arctos) is widely distributed from the tundra and
boreal forests of Russia in the north to the Himalayas in the south (Servheen 1990).
Among world brown bears populations, those in Asia are the most endangered and least
studied. Here, populations have declined by more than half in the past century
(Servheen, 1990; Servheen et al., 1999).
Himalayan brown bear (Ursus arctos isabellinus) is a subspecies of brown bear
distributed in small populations in Afghanistan, China, India, Kazakhstan, Kirghizstan,
Nepal, Uzbekistan, Pakistan, and Tajikistan. This bear subspecies is threatened with 6
extinction and for this is listed in the Appendix I of CITES (Convention on International
Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora). Historically, it occupied the
western Himalaya, the Karakoram, the Hindu Kush, the Pamir, the western Kunlun
Shan and the Tian Shan range in southern Asia, but today its geographical distribution
has been strongly reduced, compared with its historically range. In Pakistan brown bear
are found in sub-alpine and alpine areas (2600-5000m) and its primary habitat are alpine
meadows (51,000 km²) and blue pine forest (19,000 km²) (Nawaz 2007). Approximately
150-200 bears survive in seven isolated (or with limited connections) populations,
Himalayan, Karakoram, Hindu Kush, Kalam, Indus Kohistan, Kaghan, Neelam Valley.
Himalayan, Karakoram, Hindu Kush, and Neelam Valley are divided in sub-population
each. Deosai National Park, Minimerg and Nanga Parbat are sub-populations of
Himalayan population. Karakoram host Central Karakoram National Park and
Khunjerab National Park, a Hindu Kush host Ghizer, Karambar, Tirch Mir subpopulations. Gumot, Shontar Valley and Gurez Valley are the subpopulations of
Neelam Valley (Nawaz 2007). Except for the Deosai National Park subpopulation, that
is increasing (Nawaz et al. unpubblish), all the subpopulations and populations are
declining and they have a very small size, with only 5 bears recorded in some cases. The
Deosai National Park supports the largest population of brown bears in the country
(with 40-50 bears recorded (Paper I and Nawaz 2007). The brown bear population in
this park has been protected and closely monitored since 1993, when bear population
was composed only by 19 individual, after that the population started to recover
gradually (Himalayan Wildlife foundation 1999a
Brown bears in Pakistan are declining for habitat loss and fragmentation, and
human activity, which include commercial poaching of cubs and body parts, bear
baiting and hunting (Nawaz 2007). The most used habitat for brown bear are alpine
meadows in Northern Area of Pakistan, but those areas are now used as grazing areas
due to the expansion of nomadic and transhumance grazing because of the deficiency of
natural grazing areas after the nearly doubling of livestock population (Ehlers &
Kreutzmann 2000). Bear in the region is hunted, and poached in protected areas, such as
Deosai National Park, for sport (mostly by military officers), by villagers, that feel
brown bears as a danger for their livestock, and for commercial purpose (Nawaz 2007).
Climate change will influence brown bear population, by the reduction of alpine tundra,
and a northward and upward shift of coniferous biome (Hagler Bailly Pakistan 1999).
The Himalayan brown bears are mainly vegetarian with very low dietary meat
(Nawaz et al. in preparation), and this characteristic gave it the name of spang drenmo
(vegetarian bear) in the Balti language (the dialect of the Northern Area region), for
distinguishing it from Asiatic black bear, shai drenmo (carnivorous bear) (Nawaz 2007).
The Deosai population has a very low reproductive capacity, with smaller litter size and
longer maternal care than others brown bears populations (Nawaz et al. unpublished),
probably due to its diet. In fact it was demonstrated that the reproductive success in bear
is linked to the amount of meat ingested (Bunnel & Tait 1981, Hilderbrand et al. 1999).
Due to its particular diet Deosai brown bears spend most of its daily activity foraging
(67%, mainly grazing) (Nawaz & Kok 2004). Therefore, the study of its diet will be
fundamental for assessing good conservational plans for this population.
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