Context: Recently, A study carried out by scientists of the Zoological Survey of India (ZSI) in the western Himalayas with respect to the Himalayan brown bears.

About Himalayan brown bear

• Accepted scientific name:  Ursus arctos isabellinus (Horsfield, 1826)
• Description:  A large bear with thick fur which is most often sandy or reddish-brown in colour.  The head is large and the body heavy and the legs stocky.  Males are larger than females, ranging from 150 to 230 cm in length compared to 137 to 183 cm for the female bears.
• Range:  North-western and central Himalaya, including Pakistan, India, Nepal, the Tibetan Autonomous Region of China and Bhutan.  Populations are present in the Great Himalayan National Park (Himachal Pradesh) and the Deosai National Park, Pakistan.  May also be present in south and western Ladakh, in the upper Suru and Zanskar valleys.
• Habitat:  High altitude open valleys and pastures.  During the summer months the bears move up as high as the snow-line at around 5,500 metres and then descend into the valleys in the autumn.  Himalayan brown bears seem to be arguably the least arboreal of all the bear subspecies.
• Status:  The IUCN list Himalayan brown bears as vulnerable, and they are listed under Schedule 1 of the Indian Wildlife (Protection) Act of 1972.
• Life span:  20 to 30 years in the wild.
• Food:  Omnivorous, eating grasses, root, bulbs and other plants, insects and small mammals such as marmots, pikas and voles.  In the autumn they descend to lower levels to feed on fruits and berries.  They will also take sheep and goats and feed upon carrion when found.
• Behaviour:  Himalayan brown bears are diurnal and, except during mating and for mothers with cubs, are solitary.  Mating takes place during May and June with cubs being born in the winter den in December and January.  The bears go into hibernation in a cave or dug-out den around October, emerging in April or May.
• Threats:  Habitat loss, killing by livestock herders, and poaching for fur and for the illegal body parts trade.  In Pakistan there are the additional threats of habitat insularisation and bear baiting.  Overall, the population is in decline.

Background

• The Himalayan brown bear (Ursus arctos isabellinus), is a subspecies of the brown bear and is known from northern Afghanistan, northern Pakistan, northern India, west China and Nepal. It is mainly found across remote parts of the western Himalayas.
• The Himalayan brown bear is one of the largest carnivores in the highlands of the Himalayas.
• These bears hibernate during the winter.

Climate change’s impact on the habitat

• The study predicts a massive decline of 73% of the Himalayan brown bear’s habitat by the year 2050 due to climate change.
• The elevation gradient in which the brown bear is distributed is most vulnerable to global warming as this elevation belt is getting warmer faster than other elevation zones of Himalayas.
• This predicted loss in habitat will result in loss of habitats from 13 Protected Areas (PAs), with eight of these predicted to become completely uninhabitable by the year 2050.
• The study notes that apart from suitable habitats even the biological corridors for the species would be impacted which would negatively impact the genetic diversity of the species.
• Furthermore, the simulation study also predicts a significant qualitative decline in remaining habitats of the species within the protected areas of the landscape.

Road Ahead

• There is the need for adaptive spatial planning of the protected area network in the western Himalayas for conserving the Himalayan brown bears.
• This would involve mapping of suitable habitats outside the existing PAs and suitable areas should progressively be brought into the PA network.
• Given the vulnerability of animals to climate change, there need to be adaptive measures for even the vulnerable species.