STATUSAND MANAGEMENTOF ASIATICBLACK BEAR AND HIMALAYAN BROWNBEAR IN INDIA SAMBANDAMSATHYAKUMAR, Wildlife Institute of India,Post Box #18, Chandrabani,Dehra Dun 248 001, India,email: [email protected] Abstract: I review the currentstatus of Asiatic black bear (Ursus thibetanus)and Himalayanbrown bear (Ursus arctos) in Indiabased on a question- naire, interviews, and a literaturesurvey. The Himalayanregion and the hills of northeasternIndia probablysupport one of the largestpopulations of Asiatic black bear in Asia. Asiatic black bears live in forestedmountain habitats (1,200-3,300 m) in the states of Jammuand Kashmir,Himachal Pradesh,Uttaranchal, Arunachal Pradesh, Sikkim, West Bengal, Mizoram,Meghalaya, and Tripura.Asiatic black bearswere reportedto occur in 53 protectedareas (PAs) and in 62 otherlocalities, but theirpopulation status is not known. The potentialrange of Asiatic black bearhabitat in Indiais estimatedto be about 14,500 km2,of which <5% is in PAs. Asiatic black bear numbersare decreasingin many areas due to (1) large-scalehabitat degradation,(2) poaching for gall bladder and skins, and (3) control to reduce crop depredation. Very little informationexists on the relative abundanceof Himalayanbrown bear (Ursus arctos isabellinus)in India.The Himalayanbrown bear occurs in very low densities in the subalpineand alpine regions (>3,300 m) of the Greaterand Trans-Himalayanregions in India and has been reportedin the states of Jammuand Kashmir,Himachal Pradesh,and Uttaranchal.They are reportedto occur in 23 PAs and in 18 otherlocalities. Theirpotential habitat range in Indiais estimatedat 4,300 km2,of which very little is protected.Questionnaire results indicate that therehas been a marginaldecline in Asiatic black bear relative abundance, but informationfor brown bear is insufficient to elucidate a trend. The long-term conservationof both species in India depends on adequately protectingthe species and theirhabitats, reducing habitat degradation, strictly controlling poaching and illegal tradeof gall bladderand skin, and in reducingbear-human conflicts. Ursus 12:21-30 Key words: Asiatic black bear, conservation status, distribution,Himalaya, Himalayanbrown bear, protected areas, relative abundance, Ursus arctos, Ursus thibetanus Of the 8 species of bears in the world, 4 occur in India: Himalayas,the Himalayanbrown bear is reportedto oc- the sloth bear (Melursusursinus), the Asiatic black bear, cur in the subalpineforests. Himalayan brown bear, and the sun bear (Helarctos This paperreviews the distributionand relative abun- malayanus). In Servheen's (1990) review of the status danceof the Asiaticblack bear and Himalayan brown bear and conservationof the bearsof the world,he found scant in India. Results arebased on a review of availablelitera- informationon Asiatic black bear and Himalayanbrown ture, a questionnaire,and interviews with scientists, re- bear in India. Even basic informationsuch as presence searchers,forest and wildlife managers,and staff of the and absence does not exist for many areasin the distribu- Forest Departmentsin northernand northeasternIndia. tional range of these species in India. The Asiatic black bearhas been reportedto be continu- ously distributedthrough southern and easternAsia from METHODS westwardthrough Pakistan and Afghanistan to Baluchistan In 1994, a questionnairewas developed and sent to sci- Province of Iran; east to Indo-China through much of entists andland managerswho were then workingor who China, Korea, and Japan,with an isolated populationin had worked for at least 2 years in the range of Asiatic Taiwan (Cowan 1970, Servheen 1990, Mallon 1991). blackbear, the Himalayanbrown bear, or both. The ques- Schaller (1977) reporteda wide distributionfor Asiatic tionnairerequested details on: bear sightings or sign (fe- blackbear from Russia and Korea to Indo-Chinaand from ces, feeding or resting signs, tracks)in differentlocalities the forests of the Himalayasbelow an altitudeof 3,750 m (National Park, Wildlife Sanctuary,Biosphere Reserve, west as far as Afghanistanand Iran. The Himalayanre- Forest Division); relative abundanceof bears (very rare, gion andthe hills of northeasternIndia cover 591,800 km2 rare, fairly common, common, or abundant);past and (18%) of India (G.B. Pant Institutefor HimalayanEnvi- presentrelative abundance; population and habitat threats ronment and Development 1993) and probably support and their extent and magnitude;bear-human conflicts; one of the largestpopulations of Asiatic black bear. conservationand management;and the season or month The Asian range of brown bear extends from Turkey, and the durationof time spent by the respondentin bear Iran,and Afghanistan to Pakistanand along the Himalayas habitat. of India, Nepal, and Bhutan,then northand east through Two copies of the questionnaire,one for Asiatic black the mountainsof centralAsia, Tibet,northern China, and bear and one for Himalayanbrown bear, were sent to 55 Mongoliato Russia. The Himalayanbrown bear is largely scientists and land managers, of which 39 (71%) were confinedto the rollinguplands and alpine meadows above returned. All returnedquestionnaires provided some in- timberline, ecologically separatedfrom forest dwelling formationon Asiatic black bear,but only 20% contained black bear (Schaller 1977). But in the northwestern informationon brownbear. Informal interviews were held 22 Ursus 12:2001 with 23 scientists and land managersto validate and en- chards,cultivated areas, scrublands,and even villages to hance the availableinformation. Information on the rela- move between forestedareas. Thereare few estimatesof tive abundance of both species in PAs was regularly Asiatic black bear populationsor densities in India. updated whenever additionalknowledge became avail- Muchinformation on the distributionand relative abun- able. An approximatedistribution map for both species dance of Asiatic black bear in India is from the network was preparedby mappingthe upperand lower altitudinal of protected areas (PA), major valleys and catchments, limits of the species' occurrenceand later refined from ReservedForests (RF), and ForestDivisions (FD) (Table questionnaireinformation. 1). This informationis summarizedbelow by state. Jammuand Kashmir.-The best known populationsof Asiatic blackbear in Indiaare in this state. The Dachigam RESULTS National Park (NP), Overa Wildlife Sanctuary (WS), Overa-AruWS, Limber-LachiporaWS, and KistwarNP AsiaticBlack Bear: Distribution and have an Asiatic black bear population. Survey respon- RelativeAbundance dents also reportedAsiatic black bears in Pahalgamand In India, the Asiatic black bear inhabits forested hills Pinjore Punjab FD, Naranag-Wangat FD, and Tral, rangingfrom 1,200 m to 3,300 m (Prater1980). Its range Shikargarh,Shar, and Dakrum areas in IslamabadDis- overlapswith thatof the sloth bearbelow 1,200 m andthe trict. Himalayanbrown bear above 3,000 m. The Asiatic black Saberwal (1989) reportedAsiatic black bear density bearis distributedthroughout the Himalayanranges (Fig. estimates of 1.3-1.8 bears/km2in Lower Dachigam dur- 1) in the northwest (Jammu and Kashmir, Himachal ing high fruit abundance. Encounterrates ranged from 0 Pradesh),west (HimachalPradesh and Uttaranchal),cen- to 3.5 bears/kmwalked. Twenty-five to 40 bears were tral (Sikkim and northern West Bengal) and east estimatedto use LowerDachigam in earlySeptember, and (ArunachalPradesh). The species is also presentin some probablylate June throughOctober (times of high fruit hills of other northeasternstates of India. Asiatic black abundance). Manjrekar(1989) had >250 Asiatic black bear distributionin the Indiansubcontinent is contiguous bearsightings in 140 days of studyin DachigamNP. The with Nepal (eastwardfrom Uttaranchalto Sikkim) and total Asiatic black bearpopulation for Dachigammay be Bhutan(eastward from Sikkim to ArunachalPradesh). about 50 (A.J.T. Johnsingh,Wildlife Institute of India, At present,the Asiatic black bear is continuouslydis- DehraDun, Uttaranchal,India, personal communication, tributedin North India, all along the Himalayasand hills 1995). Schaller (1977) reportedthat Asiatic black bears of northeasternIndia between 1,200m and 3,300m. This were abundantin Dachigam in 1969. According to J.V. is largely due to the black bear's use of plantations,or- Gruisen (TRAFFIC-India,New Delhi, India, personal N D I areas of black of bear 1999. Fig. 1 Approximate distribution of Asiatic black bear in India and protected populations, BEARSIN INDIA * Sathyakumar 23 communication,1995), at least 7 Asiaticblack bears could ported by survey respondentsto be "fairlycommon" in be sighted in a day in Dachigam NPduring 1981-1982. GreatHimalayan NP, RupiBhaba WS, TundahWS, Kugti The relativeabundance of Asiatic blackbear in Dachigam WS, DharangatiWS, SanglaWS, KanawarWS, Kalatop- at presentis not known, but the NP has been unprotected KhajjiarWS, and Kais WS. for several years. Outside of PAs, Asiatic black bears occur in the for- In OveraWS, based on yearly spring and summerob- ested areas of Pangi (Chenabcatchment) and Bharmaur servationsfrom 1985 to 1991, T. Price (Universityof San valleys (Ravi catchmentin ChambaDistrict; Dhaula Dhar Diego, California,USA, personalcommunication, 1995) range (Beas catchment),Bara Bangal, ChotaBangal, and reportedthat the Asiatic black bearpopulation seemed to Bir in KangraDistrict; Parbati Valley, Pandrabis, Bashleo be decreasingbecause females with cubs were sighted in Pass (Sutlej catchment),and Solang and Jagatsukhval- 1985-86, no cubs were sighted during