Bears of the Himalayan Mountains

[brotherbear]

Tracking Gobi Grizzlies.
After a while I walked back toward the group. Well before I got there, I could hear the bear growling. That isn't always a sound you want to hear when you're close to a bear, but in this case it was a wonderful sign. 
Everybody in the team was soon up and walking around the animal, preparing to measure and collar it. This female was slightly younger than the first - seven years old at most. She weighed 145 pounds. From the smooth, unworn appearance of her teats, Harry could tell that she had not previously given birth. He said that this was not unusual for a grizzly inhabiting a harsh, marginal environment. Many in the Arctic were as old or older before they first breed. Our captive seemed to be in good physical condition and could be expected to begin producing young within the next year. 
Like the first female captured, this one made her way to the spring to drink as soon as she regained her footing. Interestingly, she then returned from the water to the trap and thoroughly investigated it, over and over, as if mystified and trying to put together what had happened. We waited next to the van about 150 feet away. Watching through binoculars, I thought the female's head looked oddly flattened on top. Harry agreed, saying that the hairs on the forehead sometimes become worn down or completely rubbed off during the winter months in a den. 
"Notice anything else?" he asked, keeping his voice barely above a whisper. Before I could answer, he did: "The claws. They're the longest I think I've seen on a Gobi bear. What's she been eating? It doesn't look as though she's been digging at all." Reply