Asiatic Black Bear

The Asiatic bear (Ursus thibetanus), often recognised as the Himalayan bear, Tibetan bear, or moon bear, is a bear species found in the Himalayas, Southeast Asia, as well as parts of eastern China. Asia, including Japan. The Asiatic black bear is an omnivore. They eat insects, fruit, nuts, beehives, small mammals, birds, and carrion. It will attack domestic animals on occasion.

Asiatic bear has a glossy black (occasionally brownish) coat with a mark on the chest visible as a whitish crescent moon. It has a modified mane due to its long, coarse neck and shoulder hair. The gallbladder and bile of the bear are highly prized for its high demand in traditional Asian medicines’ preparation, particularly in Japan, South Korea, and Singapore. Bile is "farmed" in China by extracting it from captive bears, but wild bears are hunted for their gallbladders and other body parts elsewhere in Asia.

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The Asiatic black bear spends the summer primarily in forested hills and mountains at elevations of up to 3,600 metres (11,800 feet). It becomes fat by fall and spends the winter at elevations of 1,500 metres (5,000 feet) or less, sleeping for much of the time. A male adult weighs 100–200 kg (220–440 pounds), whereas a female weighs approximately half as much; its length ranges from 130–190 cm (51–75 inches), with a 7–10-cm (3–4-inch) tail. After weaning, the young can stay with their mother for up to three years.

Feeding 

Insects, beetle larvae, invertebrates, termites, grubs, carrion, bees, eggs, garbage, mushrooms, grasses, fruits, nuts, seeds, honey, herbs, acorns, cherries, dogwood, and grain are all food for Asian black bears. Although Asian black bears are more herbivores than brown bears and more carnivores than American black bears. Their diet is not as specialised as that of giant pandas. Asian black bears are more opportunistic and have chosen a nutritional boom-or-bust economy, whereas giant pandas rely on a constant supply of low calorie, yet abundant foodstuffs. As a result, they binge on a variety of seasonal high-calorie foods, collecting the excess calories as fat and hibernating during times of shortage. In the months of April and May, Asian black bears will consume pine nuts and acorns from the previous year. 

When food is scarce, they enter river valleys to feed on hazelnuts and insect larvae in rotting logs. They will supplement their diet with green vegetation and fruit from mid-May to late June.They will climb trees from July to September to eat bird cherries, pine cones, vines, and grapes. They will eat dead fish on rare occasions during the spawning season, however this constitutes a much smaller portion of their diet than in brown bears. Asian black bears have been reported to kill and eat Hanuman langurs in Nepal in the 1970s. They appear to be more carnivores than most other bears, including American black bears, and will kill ungulates, including domestic livestock, on a regular basis. Muntjacs, serow, takin, wild boar, and adult water buffaloes are examples of wild ungulate prey that they kill by breaking their necks.

Habits and Lifestyle

In general, Asiatic black bears feed at night, sleeping in a cave or a hole in a tree during the day, although they will occasionally go out to graze during the day. They increase their nocturnal activity in the fall. They spend solitary lives and only congregate for mating or territorial competition. Despite their tiny claws, these bears are highly effective climbers, spending the most of their time up in the trees, where their eating habit leads to the unintentional construction of nests. Some Asiatic black bears hibernate, but not all. They store fat in the late summer to utilise during hibernation in the winter.

Some people sleep the whole winter, while others just hibernate during the coldest months. These bears typically avoid humans and will only attack if they are injured or defending their cubs.

Distribution and Habitat

As per fossil records, the Asian black bear ranged earlier as far west as the Western Europe, but now it occurs in quite small areas compared to its previous range, which is reduced to Asia. Today, it can be found from southeastern Iran eastward through Afghanistan and Pakistan, and across the Himalayan foothills in India and Myanmar to mainland Southeast Asia, with the exception of Malaysia. It has a patchy distribution in northeastern and southern China, and it is absent in much of east-central China. Other population clusters can be found in the Russian Far East and North Korea.South Korea has a small remnant population. It can also be found on the Japanese islands of Honshu and Shikoku, and also Taiwan and the Chinese island of Hainan.

It favours deciduous as well as mixed forests, as well as thornbush forests. In the summer, it prefers altitudes of around 3,500 m (11,480 ft) in the Himalayas, but rarely goes higher than 3,700 m. (12,000 ft). During the winter, it descends to altitudes of less than 1,500 m. (4,920 ft). It also occurs at sea level in Japan.

There is no definitive estimate of the number of Asian black bears: Japan proposed estimates of 8–14,000 bears living on Honshu, but the reliability of this estimate is now questioned. Although their veracity is questionable, Russian biologists have presented rangewide estimates of 5–6,000 bears. The Japanese Ministry of the Environment estimated the population in 2012 to be between 15 and 20,000 people. In India and Pakistan, rough density estimates were made without corroborating methodology or data, resulting in estimates of 7–9,000 in India and 1,000 in Pakistan. Unsubstantiated estimates from China range from 15 to 46,000, with the government estimating 28,000.

Himalayan Black Bear

The Himalayan black bear (Ursus thibetanus laniger) is a subspecies of Asian black bear native to India, Bhutan, Nepal, China, as well as Pakistan's Himalayas.
Himalayan black bears differ from Asian black bears by having longer, thicker fur and a smaller, whiter chest mark. During the summer, Himalayan black bears can be found at altitudes of 10,000 to 12,000 feet (3,000 to 3,700 m) near the timberline in Nepal, China, Bhutan, India, and Tibet. In the winter, they can be found as low as 5,000 feet (1,500 metres) in tropical forests. The average length of Himalayan Black bear is 56 to 65 inches (140 to 170 cm) starting from nose to tail and they weigh almost 200 to 265 pounds (91 to 120 kg), although they can weigh up to 400 pounds (180 kilogrammes) in the fall season when fattening up for hibernation.

Moon Bears

Moon bears possess a black fur, a yellow crescent over its chest, and large elongated ears. They are highly intelligent and have a large vocabulary of sounds.

They are excellent climbers and swimmers, thanks to their short, strong claws. Although they walk on all fours most of the time, they will stand on their hind legs to reach food or fight.

Moon bears are crepuscular, which means they are active at sunrise and sunset. They frequently hibernate between November and March, and can migrate to higher altitudes in the warmer months and descend to the lowlands in the winter months.

Mating occurs in the late summer, and gestation lasts about eight months. Females give birth in caves in the spring, typically to twins, who are weaned at three and a half months but remain with their mother for two years.

Interesting Asiatic Black Bear Facts

• The Asiatic black bear can grow to be 47 to 75 inches long and weigh 88 to 440 pounds.

• Asian black bears have a black coat-like with a crescent-shaped whitish-creamy  mark on it’s chest (thus the nickname is "moon bear"). Also, it has a light-brown muzzle as well as exceptionally long, mane-like fur around its neck.

• The Asiatic black bear has a big, rounded head, a long snout, and big ears. It has a large, stocky body with thick legs and a short tail.

• The Asiatic black bear can walk on two or four legs. Unlike many other bears, it can easily travel a quarter-mile on two legs. The upright posture of the Asiatic black bear is used to intimidate both competitors and predators.

• The Asiatic black bear does not have good eyesight or hearing, but it does have an excellent sense of smell, which it uses to detect food.

• The Asiatic black bear is a carnivore. Fruit, acorns, nuts, berries, bamboo shoots, and herbs are among its favourite foods. Insects such as ants and termites, as well as rodents and birds, supplement the plant-based diet on occasion.

• The Asiatic black bear is a solitary and nocturnal animal. During the day, it sleeps on platforms made of branches in the trees or inside hollow trees and caves.

• Tigers, wolves, and brown bears are natural enemies of Asiatic black bears because they prey on bear cubs.

• The claws of the Asiatic black bear are shorter than those of other bear species, but it is an excellent climber. It spends the majority of its life in trees, which provide plenty of food and a safe haven for rest.

• The Asiatic black bear population hibernates during the winter in the northern parts of its natural range.

• The Asiatic black bear's mating season lasts from June to August.

• Female pregnancy lasts 6 to 8 months and results in 1 to 4 cubs (2 on average). Babies spend their first few months of life in the winter den.

• Babies rely on their mothers' milk until they are 6 months old. Young Asiatic black bears remain with their mothers until they are two to three years old.

• The sexual maturity of the Asiatic black bear occurs between the ages of 4 and 5 years.

• The Asiatic black bear can live for up to 25 years in the wild and up to 30 years in captivity.