Asiatic Black Bear (Ursus Thibetanus)

Asiatic Black Bear (Ursus thibetanus)

The Red List assessment for the Asiatic Black Bear is based largely on a questionnaire survey of range country experts within the IUCN SSC Bear Specialist Group. Empirical data on country-wide population trends and the degree to which threats affect population trends do not exist. However, country experts used whatever inputs they had available to make qualitative assessments of threats and quantitative assessments of rates of population change. Of 18 range countries, information was obtained from all but one (Democratic People’s Republic of Korea). All respondents (n = 31) were independent. Respondents were grouped by their respective countries, and averages calculated to generate within-country assessments. Key results are shown in the following graphs:

Major threat Moderate threat

Number of range countries (n=17)

0 2 4 6 8 10 12 14 16

Logging

Commercial hunting

Small populations

Human-bear conflicts

Croplands

By-catch hunting

Figure 1. Data on threats to the Asiatic Black Bear indicate that logging and commercial hunting were considered to be the most severe threats, but were compounded by a number of other threats.

THE IUCN RED LIST OF THREATENED SPECIES™

2a % Decline past 30 years 6 VU threshold

5 Median = 30% China = 30% 4 Weighted avg = 31%

1 No. countries reporting % decline

0 0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 60% 70%

% Decline next 30 years 2b 6 VU threshold

5 Median = 40% Weighted avg = 24% China = 10% 4

1 No. countries reporting % decline

0 +100% 0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 60% 70% >70%

2c % Decline 30 years including present 6 VU threshold

5 Weighted avg = 24% Median = 30% China = 20% 4

1 No. countries reporting % decline

0 +100% 0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 60% 70% 2

Figure 2a, b and c. Criteria A2, A3, and A4 relate to “population reduction observed, estimated, inferred, or suspected” in three time windows spanning three generations (30 years in this case): past (A2) [Fig. 2a], future (A3) [Fig. 2b], and overlapping the present (A4) [Fig. 2c]. The threshold for Vulnerable (VU) is a range wide decline of ≥30%. Each bar represents the number of countries estimating a decline of that magnitude (+100% = population increase). Estimates were not available for all range countries. The range wide average was calculated by weighting each country’s response by the proportional area of Asiatic Black Bear range within that country. The range wide average exceeded the threshold for VU only for the time window spanning 30 years in the past (A2) [Fig. 2a], but the median rate of decline (counting all countries as equal weight) met or exceeded this threshold in all time periods. The average range wide rate of decline is driven largely by the estimate for China, because this country comprises more than half the range.

Increasing S. Korea

Stable or increasing Japan

Stable at present Bhutan,Thailand

Mainly decreasing, some areas China, India increasing or stable

Decreasing

0 5 10 15 Number of countries

Figure 3. Best guesses of current population trends in 17 range countries (absent Democratic People’s Republic of Korea). Not all of these countries were used to estimate rates of decline because some country experts felt they had inadequate information.