This document provides information about two bear species found in Pakistan: the Eurasian brown bear and the Asiatic black bear. It describes their physical appearance, size, reproduction, social systems, diets, habitats, and distributions. It notes that both bears are now rare in Pakistan due to persecution by villagers and poachers, with the Asiatic black bear subspecies known as the Baluchistan black bear being one of the world's rarest mammals. The document primarily serves to educate about the wildlife of Pakistan.

2. Instructor: Ms. Ome Aiman
WILD LIFE OF PAKISTAN

3. Wildlife of Pakistan
( Bears )

4. Eurasian Brown Bear
(Ursus Arctos)
Local name: Bhora Reech, Bhora Bhalo (Urdu)

5. Discription and Biology:
APPEARANCE:
 The brown bear is a large animal, usually dark
brown in color, though it can vary from a light
creamy shade through to black. The long
guard hairs over the shoulders and back are
often tipped with white which, from a distance,
gives a grizzled appearance.

6. The brown bear is characterized by a
distinctive hump on the shoulders, a
slightly dished profile to the face,
and long claws on the front paws.

7. SIZE:
 There is considerable variability in the size of
brown bears from different populations,
depending on the food available. Determining
representative weights of specific populations
is also difficult as there are seasonal
considerations to take into account-for
instance, some bears can weigh twice as much
in the fall as they might weigh in spring.

8.  Adult males may weigh 135 to 390
kilograms (300 to 860 pounds) compared
with 95 to 205 kilograms (205 to 455
pounds) for females. At birth, cubs weigh
340 to 680 grams (11 ounces to 1 pound
6 ounces).

9. REPRODUCTION:
 Female brown bears reach sexual maturity at
four-and-a-half to seven years of age. Males
may become sexually mature at a similar age
but are probably not large enough to be able
to enter the breeding population until they are
eight to ten years old.

10.  Mating takes place from early May to the
middle of July but implantation does not occur
until about October or November. The young
are born from about January to March. The
litter size ranges from one to four, but two is
most common. Cubs remain with their
mothers for at least two-and-a-half years, so
the most frequently a female can breed is
every three years.

11. SOCIAL SYSTEM:
 Under most circumstances, brown bears live as
lone individuals, except for females
accompanied by their cubs. During the
breeding season, a male may attend a female
for up to two weeks for mating. Brown bears
are distribut ed in overlapping home ranges
and male home ranges are larger than those
occupied by females.

12. DIET:
 Brown bears mainly eat vegetation such as
grasses, sedges, bulbs, and roots. They also eat
insects such as ants, fish, and small mammals.
In some areas they have become significant
predators of large hoofed mammals such as
Marcopole Sheep, Ibex and Bharal ( all above
information from International Association for
Bear Research and Management (IBA).

13. Habitat and Distribution:
 Their preferred habitat includes mountain
forests, open meadows and large river. The
Brown Bear in Pakistan is now very rare due to
constant persecution by local villagers and by
hunting. But the main threat to this bears
survival is from local gypsies or "Kalandars",
who earn their living from dancing bears and
bear baiting (read a special report about bear
baiting in Pakistan from WSPA).

14.  These bears are caught after their mother is
shot. It is sad to see more bears on the streets
of the big cities of Pakistan than in the wild .
 This bear inhabits the remote northern regions
of Pakistan. It is found in baltistan, Hunza,
Gilgit, the slopes of Nanga Parbat, Khunjerab
National Park and the Deosai Pleatue near
Skardu.

15. The Deosai Pleatue is a declared National
Park and is the last stronghold of the
Brown Bear in Pakistan. The total
population in this National Park is 25-27
individuals. Elsewhere this bear is
normally found solitary.

16. Asiatic Black Bear
(Ursus Thibetanus)
 Local name: Kala Reech, Kala Bhalom, Mum
(Urdu),(Baluchi: Baluchistan)

17. Discription and Biology:
APPEARANCE:
 This medium-sized, black-colored bear has a
lightish muzzle and ears which appear large in
proportion to the rest of its head, especially
when compared with other species of bears.
There is a distinct white patch on the chest ,
which is sometimes in the shape of a V, and
white on the chin. A brown color phase also
occurs.

18. The Balochistan black bear is a sub-species
of the Asiatic or Himalayan black bear. It is
smaller and possesses short, coarse, rufous
brown fur in the specimens from the south
while those from the north are much
darker as compared to the Himalayan
black bear.

19. SIZE:
 There is limited information available on these
bears, but total length of adults is 130 to 190
centimeters (50 to 75 inches). Adult males
range from 100 to 200 kilograms (220 to 440
pounds) and adult females from 50 to 125
kilograms (110 to 275 pounds).

20. REPRODUCTION
 There is little detailed information on
reproduction in Asiatic black bears. Sexual
maturity of females is thought to occur at
three to four years of age. In Pakistan, mating
has been reported to occur in October, with
young being born in February.

21.  Cubs are weaned at less than six months old,
but may stay with their mothers for two to
three years. Females have sometimes been
reported with cubs of different ages.
Baluchistan black bears are thought to mate in
October and cubs are born in February.

22. SOCIAL SYSTEM:
 In Russia, the home range is reported to be 10
to 20 square kilometers (4 to 8 square miles).
Little information is available on social
organization. The bears are reported to be
mainly nocturnal, sleeping in trees or caves
during the day. The Baluchistan black bear is
usually sighted in the rainy season from
August to November.

23. DIET:
 Asiatic black bears have been reported to feed
on a wide range of foods, including fruits,
bees' nests, insects, invertebrates, small
vertebrates, and carrion. They occasionally kill
domestic livestock, but the degree to which
they prey on wild hoofed mammals in
unknown. In fall they frequently make crude
leafy feeding platforms in nut-bearing trees.

24.  .The Baluchistan bear prefers to (Olea
ferruginea), Ber (Zizyphus nummularia) as well
as the starchy rhizomes and fruits of the dwarf
palm, insects and lizards.( all above
information from International Association for
Bear Research and Management (IBA) and
Pakistan Convention on Biodiversity )

25. Habitat and Distribution:
 Asiatic black bears live predominantly in
forested areas, especially in hills and
mountainous areas. In summer, they have
been reported at altitudes over 3,000 meters
(9,900 feet), descending to lower elevations
during winter. Apparently, they den for winter
sleep in the northern parts of their range.

26. It has been suggested that in the
southern limits of their range, where it is
quite hot, they do not undergo winter
sleep, but this has not been confirmed.

27.  In Pakistan the Himalayan Black Bear is found
in the mountains of Azad Kashmir, Khagan,
Swat Kohistan and Southern Chitral, in Chitral
Gol National Park. It is also found in Ayubia
National Park. The subspecie, Baluchistan Bear
is found in the higher hill ranges of
Baluchistan, such as Takht-e-Suliman and Toba
Kakar. It is also found in Ziarat, Kalat and
Khuzdar.

28.  The Baluchistan Bear is one of the world's
most rarest mammal and is listed in the IUCN's
Red List of threatened species. The Baluchistan
black bear (Ursus thibetanus gedrosianus)
locally known as "Mum" was once widely
distributed in most of Balochistan. A number
of stories and mysterious tales have been
perpetuated about the species among the
locals i.e. dragging humans to caves etc.

29.  The Balochistan black bear's habitat ranges
from Iranian Balochistan to the Pakistan's
Baluchistan province. According to T.J.
Roberts, this species has been reported in the
Sulaiman Range, Ziarat, Harnai, Khuzdar,
Kharan and the Lasbela Hills, but now it is
considered extinct in most of the areas. The
major stronghold of the species is now in the
Pub Range (Khuzdar Hills) where it is mostly
confined to arid sub-tropical thorn forest

30.  Two surveys have been conducted one by WWF-
Pakistan in 1993-96 and the other by the
Himalayan Jungle Project in 1994 and both
confirmed the presence of the species in the Pub
area. The population status is not certain, but
local hunters report 8-10 animals still survive in
the area. A WWF survey team has also reported
scats and footprints of the Black Bear in the
Sulaiman range in 1998.

31.  The black bear is threatened with extinction
due to loss of habitat and from local Gypsies,
or "Kalanders", who capture bear cubs for bear
baiting and for dancing (read a special report
about bear baiting in Pakistan from WSPA).
The main threat to the species is its
persecution by the locals. Bears are usually
killed when they are found predating on goats
and their kids

32.  People also kill the bears to sell its fur and to
collect its fat for medicinal use. The second
important factor that threatens the species is
that it has not been explored and studied
properly. The habitat has been seriously
disturbed during the decades of the 80's and
90's.

33. Instructor: Mam Ome Aiman
Student Name: Dawood Safi
Class: M.Sc. 4th Open
Roll No. 05
Department: Zoology
 Abdul Wali Khan University Mardan