English: Asiatic Black Bear; French: Ours à Collier; Abor: Situm; Annamite: Gau co van; Assam Hills: satun, sitam, mapol, mansu bhurma; Baluch: Mum; Bothia: Don; Burmese: Wek-won, Wet-won; Hindi: Rinch, Rich, Bhalu; Iranian: Khers-e-Siah; Japanese: Tsukinowa-guma; Kashmiri: Siyah-haput; Kachari: Musu-bhurma; Korean: Bandal Muni Gom; Kuki: Vumpi; Lepcha: sona; Limbo: Magyen; Manipuri: Sawom; Mongol: Mazaalai; Nagas: Sapa, Sevan, Chup, Thega, Thagua, Hughum; Nepalese: Sanar, Hung-bong, Himali Kalo Bhalu ; Pashto: Tur Melow; Tamil: karunkarati; Thai: Mi-Kwai; Tibet: Thorn nath; Urdu: Kala Rich, Kala Bhalu; Russian: Tibatansski Tschorni Medved.
Former distribution: From south-eastern Iran east through China to the Amur-Ussuri region, Mongolia and south Nepal, Assam, Burma, Vietnam, Formosa and Japan.
Present distribution: South-eastern Iran, south Afghanistan, the province of Baluchistan in Pakistan, Kashmir, Punjab along the Himalayas to Nepal and Assam, China, Taiwan, Korea, Japan and in USSR in the Amur-Ussuri region, Mongolia.
Behaviour: Preferred habitat: bushy and deciduous forests up to the timber line about 3500 m elevation. Similar to other bears such as Ursus arctos; hibernates; eats plant material and kills domestic cattle. Predators: tigers.
Population status: Endangered. In most of the distribution areas. Its former range declined drastically due mainly to destruction of habitat.
Brief notes:
Body weight: 100-150 kg
Head and body length: 150-200 cm
Tail length: 8-10 cm
Shoulder height: 65-70 cm
Gestation period: 170-240 days
Maximum age: 30 years
Trophy: Skull average: length 30 cm, width 20 cm; CIC: 50.0 points.
Hunting methods: With dogs, stalking and on a kill.
Subspecies: 7; 6 Palaearctic, 1 Indo-Malayan region
1. Baluchistan Black Bear Selenarctos th. gedrosianus Southern-central Baluchistan to Midran, southern Kalat and the extreme north-west of Las Bela, in the Jhal Jao Hills and at Jebri. Endangered, less than 200.
2. Kashmir Black Bear Selenarctos th. laniger Sporadic in south-east Iran; Afghanistan, Pakistan, Punjab, Kashmir, Nepal, Sikkim, Bhutan and Xizang (Tibet). No records, presumably endangered.
3. Chinese Black Bear Selenarctos th. melli Sichuan (Szechuan), Shanxi (Schensi) Hubei (Hupeh), Yunnan (Jünnan) to Fujian (Fukien) and Hainan. No records, presumably endangered.
4. Ussuri Black Bear Selenarctos th. ussuricus Amur-Ussuri region in the USSR, Mongolia; Heilongjiang (Manchuria) north-eastern China and Korea. No records, endangered.
5. Japanese Black Bear Selenarctos th. japonicus Japan, only on Honshu. 2125 in 1982, stable.
6. Taiwan Black Bear Selenarctos th. formosanus Taiwan. No records: presumably endangered.
Indo-Malayan region
7. Burma Black Bear Selenarctos th. thibethanus Assam, Burma, Thailand, Kampuchea, Laos, Vietnam, Malaysia. Probably endangered.
Remarks: The decrease of the population continues due to uncontrolled hunting. Skin and meat are of high value to the local people. The extinction of these bears is likely. More information required on population status and distribution.
