The Asiatic Black Bears
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The Asiatic black bear is in many ways very similair to its cousin
the American black bear. It has several different names, including
Himalayan black bear, Tibetan (Ursus thibetanus means bear of Tibet) and moon bear, after tge wgute marking on
its chest.
Asiatic black bear (Ursus thibetanus),
is the most common bear Asiatic black bear (mainly localised in the Himalayas).
It inhabits mountain forests from Afghanistan to the island of Japan, they are good tree climbers and spending much of its
time in trees in seach of acorns and other nuts.
The Asiatic black bear displays a necklace of white fur across its chest and thick,
long black ruff on its neck.Its medium-length body hair is jet black. The rings of yellowish fur around its
eyes account for the spectacled bear's name. These golden markings vary greatly fron one bear to another and sometimes
extend from the cheeks to the chest.
Like their American black bear cousins, Asiatic black bears are generalists too.
For example in Iran they feed on olives, figs, insects and the buds of the date palm and come into
conflict with farers when they climb the palm trees. Therefore Asiatic black bears are so reduced
in numbers that they are almost never seen and probably only about 20 - 30 may remain in Iran.
They are generally consider as pest species and over 100 black bears are killed annualy; trapped in cages and
then shot. Asiatic black bears are declining in numbers and because of fact that they are killed for parts of their bodies.
The people will pay a lot of money for bear paws, which are considered a delicacy,
and for gall bladders, which are thought to be a powerful medicine.
These animals have the usual strong figure which is head largely and approximately and with small eyes provide.
The size of the Asiatic black bear is between 130 to 190 centimeters.Males and females differ clearly in the weight. While male animals reach 110 to 200 kilograms,
female animals weigh only 50 to 125 kilograms.
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