Asian Black Bear

Facts

IUCN VULNERABLE (VU)

Facts about this animal

The Asiatic Black Bear has a coat of smooth black fur and can be distinguished from other animals by the white characteristic V-form stain on the breast. Average length is 1,2-1,8 meters . Weight is different between the sexes: adult females weight about 65 bis 90 kg, while adult males can reach a weight between 110 and 150 kg.

Did you know?
that, in Viet Nam and China, about 13'000 Asian black bears are kept in small cages for the extraction of bile from their gall bladder for the purposes of traditional oriental medicine? Bile is extracted through a cut made in the bear's belly and into the gall bladder. A tube is inserted into this opening to tap the bile, or a steel stick is forced into the gall bladder with the bile then running down it into a basin. Between 10 and 20 ml of bile is tapped from each bear twice daily.

Factsheet
Class	MAMMALIA
Order	CARNIVORA
Suborder	FISSIPEDIA
Family	URSIDAE
Name (Scientific)	Ursus thibetanus
Name (English)	Asian Black Bear
Name (French)	Ours à collier, Ours de l'Himalaya, Ours du Tibet
Name (German)	Kragenbär
Name (Spanish)	Oso de collar, Oso negro de Asia
CITES Status	Appendix I
CMS Status	Not listed

Photo Copyright by
Valerie Abbott

Distribution

Distribution
Range	Southern Asia, northeastern China, far eastern Russia, and Japan
Habitat	Tropical rainforests, temperate broadleaf forests, and tropical monsoon and dry forests, particularly in hill and mountainous regions.
Wild population	Unknown, no reliable population estimates exist.
Zoo population	94 reported to ISIS (2007)

In the Zoo

How this animal should be transported

For air transport, Container Note 72 of the IATA Live Animals Regulations should be followed.

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Photo Copyright by
Abu0804

Why do zoos keep this animal

The Asiatic Black Bear is rated Vulnerable by IUCN and is listed in Appendix I of CITES. Zoos in North America and Europe therefore undertake to maintain self-sustaining ex situ populations under a species management programme /regional studbook respectively.

All large bears are very popular with the public and of major educational interest.

Zoos within the species' range may also keep Asiatic black bears for animal welfare reasons as they may take care of illegally caught pets or bears rescued from bear bile farms.

How this animal should be kept

Traditional bear enclosures are often quite inadequate, and transforming or replacing old enclosures requires a lot of space and major investments. Many zoos have therefore reduced the number of bear species kept, to provide more space and higher quality enclosures for just one or two species.

Existing enclosures of less than 100 m² should be given up as soon as possible. For two or three compatible non-breeding adults the enclosure should have a size of at least 300 m². For a breeding pair two enclosures of at least 300 m² each should be available.

Individual sleeping / cubbing dens of 6 m² are required.

The Asiatic black bear is an excellent tree climber, as are most of the bear species. The enclosure should therefore be furnished with ample climbing opportunities and large hollow trees or other cavities to retreat. In larger enclosures, natural soil with grass cover is recommended. Older, small enclosures usually have a concrete floor which should at least in part be covered with a more suitable substrate such as bark chips.

Zoo-born bear cubs should not be hand-reared as a matter of routine. Failure of females to rear cubs usually occurs due to disturbance; every effort should be made to avoid the female being disturbed. If a cub is abandoned, or the mother has died, it should be considered on a case-by-case basis whether hand-rearing is the best option for the individual or whether euthanasia is a more humane.