White-breasted bears: description, habitats and food

2024 Author: Henry Conors | [email protected]. Last modified: 2024-02-12 02:47

From time immemorial, people have endowed some wild animals with a special halo of mystery. These include white-breasted bears, which are the most ancient species. Their history spans over one million years.

Appearance

This bear has several different names - Asian, black, Tibetan, and is better known as the Himalayan. His physique is not much different from other representatives of the bear family. But a closer look reveals features that are unique to this species.

In size, white-breasted bears are significantly inferior to their brown relatives. Adult males reach a length of no more than 170 cm, and their weight ranges from 110 to 150 kg. The physique is lighter, so these bears are more mobile and agile. Large rounded ears, located on a relatively small head, give the animal a peculiar look. Shiny and silky fur of a beautiful black-tar color on the nape forms a kind of collar. A white mark on the chest in the form of a crescent is a special distinguishing mark of the bear, thanks to which he received his title. Life expectancy on average does not exceed 14 years. The meat of these animals is highly valued, which is of great interest to hunters. This was one of the reasons that today white-breasted bears are listed in the Red Book of Russia.

Habitats

The Himalayan bear inhabits mountainous regions from Afghanistan, Iran, Pakistan to Japan and Korea. In Russia, it lives mainly in the Primorsky and Khabarovsk Territories. Also found in northern Vietnam and the island of Taiwan.

This bear prefers to settle in cedar forests and fruit-bearing oak forests, where there are Manchurian walnut, linden, Mongolian oak. Avoids spruce-fir taiga, birch forests and low forests. Usually white-breasted bears live in the forest zone located along river valleys, mountain slopes, the height of which does not exceed 700-800 meters. They love those places where deciduous forests predominate. In the Himalayas, they can be found in summer and at an altitude of up to 4 km, in winter, bears usually descend to the foothills. White-breasted bears leave their chosen habitats only when there are problems with food.

Lifestyle

This animal spends most of its life in trees, foraging there and escaping from enemies.

Therefore, the white-breasted (Himalayan) bear climbs trees perfectly, doing it with great dexterity until old age. The time of descent even from a very high tree takes no more than 3 seconds.

He also arranges a den on a tree, choosing for this a large deepa hollow at a height of at least eight meters, or using an old tree with an empty core (poplar, linden or cedar) for this. It gnaws a hole of the required size in it and develops the size of the space inside the tree. Each bear has more than one such lair. In case of danger, there is always a fallback where he can hide. White-breasted bears hibernate for about 5 months - from November to March, sometimes they leave their den only in April.

These animals mostly seek solitude. But it happens that in places where there is a lot of food, several individuals can gather together. At the same time, a hierarchy is strictly observed, taking into account the age and weight of the male. This is especially evident with the onset of the mating season.

Relationships with each other bears build with the help of visual contact, demonstrating their status by posture. If the animal sits down or lies down, this is the posture of submission. The same goes for going backwards. The dominant bear always moves towards its competitor.

The territory where white-breasted bears live is limited by urinary marks, with which males mark the boundaries of their possessions. In addition, they rub their backs against tree trunks, leaving their scent on them.

Food

The diet of these animals is mainly plant foods, so spring is the hardest time for them. Before green vegetation appears in abundance, plant buds, last year's remains of acorns and nuts, roots and bulbs that have to be dug out of the ground are used for food.

At the beginning of summer, when the first grass appears, white-breasted bears descend into the valleys, eating young shoots of angelica, sedge and hogweed. They also do not miss the opportunity to eat bird eggs and chicks. When raspberries, currants, bird cherry, pine nuts ripen, they become the main food for bears. Even very old animals easily climb trees in search of food. At the same time, they make it quite interesting. Having broken off and gnawed a twig with fruits, the bear slips it under him, thus, after a while, something like a nest is formed under him. In it, he can stay for a very long time, eat and rest.

Just like their brown counterparts, white-breasted bears are big lovers of honey. Behind him, they are ready to climb to any height, gnaw through even the thickest wall of a tree where wild bees have settled.

In a harvest year, only nuts and acorns are enough for a bear to accumulate fat reserves. For a month and a half of good feeding, the weight of fat reserves of an adult is usually up to 30% of body weight.

Reproduction and rearing of offspring

Bears reach sexual maturity by 3-4 years. The mating season lasts from about June to August, passing quite calmly. After 7 months, in winter, the female usually gives birth to 1 or 2 almost naked and blind cubs. Their weight does not exceed 800 g. After a month and a half, the babies are first covered with a gray fluff, which is soon replaced by black wool. They already see and hear well enough, can move aroundalong the lair.

With the onset of spring, when a constant positive temperature is established, the cubs leave the den with their mother. By this time, their weight increases by 5 times. They feed mainly on mother's milk, and with the advent of green grass, they gradually switch to pasture, which is especially abundant in river valleys. There, together with their mother, small white-breasted bears descend, where they live until autumn.

The next winter they all spend together in a den, and by autumn they are already starting an independent life.

Limiting factors

Human activities and poaching cause great harm to the population of these bears. The local population rarely follows the rules of hunting, shooting animals at any time of the year, often after they hibernate, even though the white-breasted bears are listed in the Red Book of Russia.

Another factor contributing to the decline in the number of these animals is commercial deforestation and fires. Hunters in search of prey often cut holes in hollow trees, after which they become unsuitable for bears. All this deprives animals of safe conditions for hibernation. It happens that they are forced to spend the winter right on the ground.

The lack of reliable shelter leads to an increase in the death of bears from predators. They can be attacked by a tiger, a brown bear, and cubs often become victims of a wolf and a lynx.

Protection measures

AfterSince the white-breasted bear is listed in the Red Book, hunting for it is completely prohibited. Particular attention is paid to the conservation of the main habitats of this species and strict control over the cessation of the destruction of its shelters. An intensified fight against wolves is also aimed at preserving the population of white-breasted bears. In order to restore the number of these animals, sanctuaries and reserves with favorable habitat conditions are being created. Apiaries, where bears often visit, are equipped with special scaring devices.

Himalayan bear and man

This dexterous, despite its clumsy appearance, and quick-witted animal has long attracted man. There are many stories and legends about him. The ability of the white-breasted bear to easily adapt to captivity has led some representatives of this species to become real circus performers. They are highly trainable and learn tricks.

The permanent inhabitant of the zoo, causing a lot of audience sympathy, is the white-breasted bear. The Red Book, where these animals are listed, classifies them as vulnerable, and inclusion in Appendix 1 of the CITES Convention means that the movement of bears for commercial purposes is prohibited.

Still, keeping Himalayan bears in captivity is quite difficult. In order to return them to their native land, a rehabilitation center has been created in Primorsky Krai, where animals are trained to live in the wild.