ASIATIC BLACK BEAR
DESCRIPTION: A large forest-dwelling bear
of the Himalayas, the Asiatic Black Bear is also called the Moon Bear due to
the crescent-shaped creamy or white mark on its glossy black chest. Its black
fur is much shorter than that of the other black bear of India, the Sloth Bear,
its muzzle is shorter and tan–brown, the brown colour stopping short below the
eyes and its chest marking is crescent shaped instead of ‘V’ shaped and extends
all the way to its armpits. The chin is white. Longer hairs are present in the
neck region, probably an evolutionary adaptation to escape the bites of
predators such as tigers. It has powder-puff ears that are very noticeable and
a very short tail. The feet are large with black pads and form the largest tracks
among Indian bears. The claws on its digits are pronouncedly curved and dark
black in colour, longer on the forefoot than the hind foot but shorter than
those of the Brown and Sloth Bears. U.t. laniger has denser under-wool, an
overall longer and more luxuriant coat, and a smaller white crescent mark while
in U.t. thibetanus, the coat is shorter with little or no under-wool and a
larger crescent on the chest.
BEHAVIOUR: U.t. laniger hibernates in the
upper Himalayas, although for not as long and not as continuously as the Brown
Bear but U.t. thibetanus does not hibernate at all. It is much more arboreal
than the Brown or Sloth Bears, ascending trees to feed on fruit or honey or
escape intrusion though it does not sleep on trees like the Sun Bear.
DISTRIBUTION: Throughout the Himalayas from
Jammu & Kashmir to Arunachal Pradesh and in hilly regions of other
north–eastern states (Assam, Meghalaya, Mizoram, Nagaland and Tripura).
HABITAT: The species prefers heavily forested broadleaved and coniferous forests as habitat. It uses orchards, agricultural fields and human habitation to move between forest patches. In the North–East, it is also found in deciduous and semi-evergreen forests.
Size : 110–190 cm
IUCN Status: Vulnerable
0 comments:
Post a Comment