Baluchistan bear, Rudan, Hormozgan, Iran (Ruholah.ahmadi – licensed under CC BY-SA 3.0 via Commons)
Accepted scientific name: Ursus thibetanus gedrosianus (Blanford, 1877)
Description: Smaller than the other Asiatic black bear subspecies. The pelage is short and coarse and varies from a rufous brown to deep black. The chest patch is darker and the head thinner than the norm; the ears are large in proportion to the narrower head. The chin is white and the tail typically around 11 cm (just over four inches) long. Length 120 cm to 190 cm (47 to 75 inches), shoulder height 70 to 100 cm (28 to 39 inches). Males weigh from 100 kg to 200 kg (200 to 440 pounds) and females from 50 kg to 125 kg (110 to 275 pounds).
Range: Once found throughout the mountainous Baluchistan region (comprising part of western Pakistan, south-eastern Iran and south-western Afghanistan). Now limited to the higher hill and mountain ranges of southwest Pakistan and southeast Iran, typically at altitudes between 500 and 2,700 metres (1,650 to 9,000 feet). The bear is most often seen in Khuzdar Hills in Pakistan but the population size is thought to be very small. In Iran the population is very low density and is found only in the provinces of Kerman, Hormozgan and Sistan-Baluchestan.
Baluchistan region shown in pink (U.S. CIA); present range of Baluchistan bear shown in blue on the smaller map
Habitat: Arid sub-tropical thorn forest.
Status: Very rare. On the IUCN Red List as Critically Endangered and listed in CITES Appendix I. Nationally listed as critically endangered in Pakistan.
Life span: 25 to 30 years.
Food: Particularly fond of fruit, especially figs and bananas, and nuts; also dates and olives. Diet also includes plant material and herbs, insects, honey and bees’ nests, lizards, small mammals and carrion.
Behaviour: Largely nocturnal, sleeping in trees and caves during the day. Sexual maturity of females is thought to occur at three to four years. Believed to mate in October and cubs are born in winter, probably most often in February. Feamles are sexually mature at three to four years of age. Litters are usually of one, two or three and the cubs stay with their mothers for two to three years.
Threats: Human persecution and poaching, deforestation and loss of habitat.
MORE INFORMATION
Identifying habitat cores and corridors for the Iranian black bear in Iran from Ursus #27, 2016 (download is from our server and will open in a new window).
Page updated 17 February 2022
Save
Save