Bears of the Himalayan Mountains

[brotherbear]

Tracking Gobi Grizzlies.
On the ride home, I asked more about Altan's bed-hair look. Why would a desert-dwelling grizzly end up having fur at least as thick as that of a grizzly roaming the Arctic? "Winters are long here." Proctor answered, "and temperatures sink far below zero. Without deep soil to tunnel into for a den, these bears have little choice but to find a shallow cave and sleep partly exposed." In other words, mazaalai can't dig a bear-size burrow because every mountainside in the GGSPA is pretty much all stone. They can't find a hollow tree to crawl into either, there being no forests other than the rare oasis poplar grove. 
If you watch coastal salmon-feasting grizzlies in late fall, you'll see their butts jiggling like jelly as they walk. Those animals go into their winter dens with a body fat ratio of close to 50 percent. Rocky Mountain grizzlies that have been gobbling berries through the late summer and early fall might be 17 to 25 percent fat before denning. Nobody has measured this quality for Gobi bears, but it would be at the low end of the scale. Smaller and leaner than grizzlies in more generous settings, Gobi bears have less body mass to retain heat. An extra thick double layer of air-trapping fur has to do the job of providing insulation in lieu of flesh and fat. A mazaalai can add to the cushion between itself and the floor of a cave den by carrying in vegetation. Most grizzlies gather some plant material in for their winter beds: conifer boughs, beargrass, heather, and the like. The few reports of possible Gobi bear winter beds describe collections of dry branches and twigs; not the most comfortable sleeping mat, perhaps, but it sounded better than freezing rock. Reply