Asian Black Bear(Everything You Need to Know)

Last Updated on July 25, 2022 by Dr. Ali Shahid

Known variously as the Asiatic black bear, the moon bear, and the white-chested bear, the Asian black bear is a medium-sized bear indigenous to Asia which has adapted to live largely in an arboreal habitat.

Asian black bears have round heads and small eyes that give them the appearance of being a bear. There is a large distance between the ears of this bear, which is greater than the ears of most black bears.

A very heavy animal, with an incredible body, whose legs are thick and strong with broad feet, and whose body is huge, this is a beast to reckon with. Thus, it walks on its soles, just like we do when walking on our feet.

Asian Black Bear

The tail is extremely short and hardly visible under the thick coat, which is extremely long and has unimaginable thickness.

There are black spots on its chest, throat, and underside of its chin, and the fur on its chest has a marked “V” shape while the fur on its throat is light beige to white.

The muzzle of the animal is white. We will learn more about this interesting creature in this article. So, make your to read this full article to know interesting facts about this bear.

Distribution and Habitat

With fossil records found as far west as France and Germany, Asian Black Bears were once found throughout both Europe and Asia.

However, for the last few years, they have only been confined to Central and Southern Asia, throughout Afghanistan, Japan, Thailand, and Russia.

Despite their wide distribution throughout Southeast Asia, they are not currently found in Malaysia, possibly because their territories overlap with those of the Sun Bear.

Although they prefer deciduous forests and brushland at low altitudes, Asiatic Black Bears’ habitats depend on their geographical location.

Despite this, humans’ encroachment into lowland areas has forced Asiatic Black Bears to move into higher altitudes into small patches of vegetation.

Appearance

Asiatic Black Bears have large heads and thick legs as well as strong bodies. When they are threatened or battling for territory, they can make themselves appear even bigger by standing on those legs as well as walking.

It is interesting to note that Asian Black Bears have whitish markings on their chests despite their black coloration.

A long furry tuft hangs from their necks, which conceals their size and gives the impression that they are very large. In addition to having an excellent sense of smell, Asiatic Black Bears have an impressively long snout that aids in finding food.

Although they have bigger ears than their relatives, their eyesight and hearing are poor, so they rely almost entirely on smell for navigation.

Asian black bear size

It is difficult to gather any precise information on these bears, but it is believed that they can grow between 50 and 75 inches (130 and 190 centimeters) in length.

Male adult weight typically ranges between 100 and 200 kilograms (230 to 440 pounds), while female adult weight typically ranges between 50 and 125 kilograms (110 to 275 pounds).

Behavior

Black bears in Asia have relatively small claws, but they are excellent climbers. They forage in the trees for fruit and hunt small mammals. In addition to that, they construct nests from folded tree branches when they reach for fruit.

The animals remain dormant during the winter and rely on fat reserves to maintain their body temperature. In colder climates, Asian Black Bears will survive the winter on acorns, beechnuts, and walnuts.

It is known that some populations of these animals hibernate in northern parts of the Russian Federation, where the winter weather is particularly harsh, and then emerge in late May.

Breeding

The reproduction of Asian black bears in southwestern and southeastern Asia is difficult to determine if they differ from one another. Females reach sexual maturity when they are between the ages of three and four years old.

During June and July, it is reported that mating occurs. Then, between December and March, births are reported to occur. There has been a report that mating occurs in Pakistan during October, announcing the arrival of young in February.

Typically, a cub will be weaned when he or she is less than six months old. In some cases, however, the cub will remain with her for twenty to thirty months. It has been observed that some females have cubs that are of varying ages with them.

Diet

Asiatic Black Bears eat both small animals and plants throughout their natural range and despite being classified as carnivores, they have a varied omnivorous diet, like other bear species.

Asiatic Black Bears spend most of their waking hours foraging in trees for food since the fruits, plants, and seeds they consume are low in nutrition.

In addition to these nuts and seeds, they also eat cherries, bamboo shoots, grasses, herbs, grubs, and insects like termites and ants, occasionally supplemented by birds or rodents when other food is scarce.

In the areas where human settlements have heavily encroached upon Asiatic Black Bears’ natural habitat, they have been observed to raid and steal livestock from land wherever human settlements have penetrated their natural habitats.

Asian Black Bear Adaptation

By using those gigantic, heavy, strong legs, the bear can move heavy objects that get in the way of him and his food, such as rocks, tree trunks, and tree limbs.

This bear has large padded toes and strong, curved claws that allow him to climb trees easily to find fruits, nuts, and honey, no matter how high the tree is.

These bears also tend to have long tongues that can stick to things. It is believed that they used their tongue to clean up ants or to grab nuts from the ground.

Population Threat

Historically, Asiatic Black Bears have had a few (if any) natural predators due to their size and ferocity. The Asian Black Bear is preyed upon extensively by tigers throughout Asia, especially on young cubs despite their mothers’ fierce protection.

Wolves are a threat to Asian Black Bears in some parts of their natural range where they overlap with that of other bear species, including Russian Brown Bears.

Nevertheless, people are one of the biggest challenges faced by Asiatic Black Bear populations, since they are severely impacted by deforestation.

As a result, this species is considered to be vulnerable. There are fewer than 60,000 animals left worldwide according to a study conducted by the organization.

Forests are being converted to agriculture in China, where these bears are most abundant, and forests are being destroyed.

However, in Japan, where people have migrated to the cities and agricultural land has been reclaimed, bear habitat has increased.

Traditional Asian medicines, such as those used in Japan, South Korea, and Singapore, highly value the bear’s gallbladder and bile.

China farms bear bile by harvesting it from caged bears, but wild bears are also hunted for food, their gallbladders, and their paws in Asia.

Conservation of Asiatic Black Bear

The conservation of Asian black bears would be best served by reducing the demand for products made from bears, which in turn would reduce hunting and trading.

International and national laws protect the species, but these laws are not enforced as often as they should be. In short, the Baluchistan bear is a critically endangered subspecies found in the arid forests of southern Pakistan and Iran.

It was listed as critically endangered on the 1996 Red List of the IUCN, and it is listed as threatened on the national IUCN Red List. There have been proposals to create a protected area so that this very small, isolated population of bears can be rehabilitated.

Research Links

https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2351989420308921

https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1111/gcb.15743