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Bears
Bears of the Himalayan Mountains
Bears of the Himalayan Mountains
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Bears of the Himalayan Mountains
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Himalayan Brown bear mother and 2 cubs looking for food just after hibernation. Also gives an insight into the bear-man conflict in the area:
 
Projected climate change threatens Himalayan brown bear
habitat more than human land uses Abstract Climate change and land use change jointly are the largest drivers of population declines, range contraction and extinction for many species across the globe. Wide- ranging and large-bodied species are especially vulnerable to habitat loss and frag- mentation due to their typically low population densities, reecting their need for extensive and connected habitats. We used the multi-scale Random Forests machine learning algorithm to identify factors driving the habitat selection and future changes in habitat of Himalayan brown bear, an iconic wide-ranging and large-bodied species of high conservation interest, across a range of spatial scales. Habitat selection of brown bears was scale-dependent, with most variables selected at broad scales. Climatic variables such as maximum temperature of coldest month, minimum temperature of warmest month and the potential evapotranspiration of wettest quarter strongly inuenced habitat selection of brown bears. Future projec- tions indicate a strong difference between the high and low emission scenarios. Alarmingly, our model suggests that high emission scenarios, with or without land use change, may result in a decline of brown bear habitat of >90% by the end of the century. In contrast, low emission scenarios are projected to reduce brown bear habitat by <23%, with much of the species range shifting to higher elevations. This study provides an integrative understanding of scale-dependent variables in brown bear habitat selection, providing critical information for prioritizing areas for habitat management and conservation. Most importantly, our future projections imply that traditional conservation efforts, such as in situ conservation, will not be sufcient to protect the species without climate change mitigation. The incorporation of cli- mate change mitigation and adaptation in conservation strategies will be one of the most pressing priorities in biodiversity conservation in this region.    *This image is copyright of its original author HIMALAYAN BROWN BEARS & GARBAGE Since the Kargil war, the habitat and the prey base of the Brown bears has constricted so much that they are forced to survive on garbage dumps near the human settlements. Some surveys have said that their food consists of 75 percent plastic in various forms like chocolate wrappers, tetra packs of milk, rotten clothes, rubber, even glass bottles(one can be seen in the photograph). This is causing severe kidney issues and other health problems in the population and even reducing their life span. The worst part is that these scavenging habits are being passed onto the next generations as well. In this picture one can see the mumma bear along with her cub feasting on the garbage. The bears cover a distance of several kilometres everyday to reach these dump-yards at dusk, feast on whatever is there for a few hours and then return to their caves by dawn. It’s a sad state to see and this is painful. The picture above was clicked at one of those dump-yards in Drass sector. Drass, Jammu & Kashmir |
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