Save Indian Black Bear
The Moon Bear, also known as the Asian or Asiatic black bear, is a species of bear that lives in Southeast Asia. You can easily identify this bear by its black fur, round ears, and bright white colored patch of hair on its chest.
Moon Bear lives in the Himalayas, southeastern Iran, the northern parts of the Indian subcontinent, the Korean Peninsula, northeastern China, the Russian Far East, the islands of Honshū and Shikoku in Japan, and Taiwan. It is listed as vulnerable on the IUCN Red List, and is threatened by deforestation and poaching for its body parts, which are used in traditional medicine. Keeping captive Asian black bears is popular in China, especially due to the belief that milking the bear’s gall bladder leads to quick prosperity. Asian black bears are also popular as pets in Vietnam.
👆An Asiatic black bear rescued and rehabilitated at the IFAW Bear Rescue Center
Asian black bears are close relatives to American black bears, with which they share a European common ancestor; the two species are thought to have diverged 3,000,000 years ago, though genetic evidence is inconclusive. Asian black bear has 7 subspecies which includes Ursus thibetanus formosanus(Formosan black bear), Ursus thibetanus gedrosianus(Baluchistan bear), Ursus thibetanus japonicus(Japanese black bear), Ursus thibetanus laniger(Himalayan black bear), Ursus thibetanus mupinensis(Indochinese black bear), Ursus thibetanus thibetanus(Tibetan black bear) and Ursus thibetanus ussuricus(Ussuri black bear).
Ursus thibetanus laniger
Ursus thibetanus thibetanus
Asian black bears are diurnal, though they become nocturnal near human habitations. They may live in family groups consisting of two adults and two successive litters of young. They will walk in a procession of largest to smallest. They are good climbers of rocks and trees, and will climb to feed, rest, sun, elude enemies and hibernate. Some older bears may become too heavy to climb. Half of their life is spent in trees and they are one of the largest arboreal mammals.
Poaching for gall bladders and skin are the main threats faced by Asian black bears in India. Although the Asian black bear is protected in India, due to being listed as vulnerable in the Red Data Book in Appendix I of CITES in India and in Schedule I of the Indian Wildlife (Protection) Act and its 1991 amendment, it has been difficult to prosecute those accused of poaching Asian black bears due to lack of witnesses and lack of Wildlife Forensic Labs to detect the originality of confiscated animal parts or products.
Moreover, due to India’s wide-stretching boundaries with other nations such as Pakistan, Tibet, China, Nepal, Bhutan, Bangladesh and Myanmar, it is difficult to police such borders, which are often in mountainous terrain.
Humans impact this species in various ways. One of the most detrimental impacts, as is the case with most species, is habitat destruction. Illegal poaching also impacts the overall population of this bear. Over 20,000 bears – mainly moon bears but also sun bears and brown bears – are held in captivity on farms in Asia to have bile extracted from their gall bladders on a regular basis, for profit.
Sadly, even in areas with protected habitats the amount of food is not enough to sustain high populations. The populations are so far apart that they can no longer interbreed, and inbreeding and decreased genetic diversity becomes a problem.
In addition to poaching and hunting, factors such as the expansion of the agrarian frontiers, increasing confrontation with humans, and loss and fragmentation of habitats are also threatening the species outside protected areas. The most effective way to tackle the issue of bear poaching is stepping up mass awareness through exposure trips. Conservation traditions that are ingrained in the local tribal life styles need to be recognised and integrated into mainstream conservation policies.
Do Your Share🙏 To Save these Black Bears
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Sources
Wikipedia, BEAR BILE FARMING, Indian Biodiversity Portal, Animals.NET, Asiatic Black Bear
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