Local name: Bhora Reech, Bhora Bhalo (Urdu)

Discription and Biology:

APPEARANCE: The brown bear is a large animal, usually dark brown in color, though it can vary from a light creamy shade through to black. The long guard hairs over the shoulders and back are often tipped with white which, from a distance, gives a grizzled appearance. The brown bear is characterized by a distinctive hump on the shoulders, a slightly dished profile to the face, and long claws on the front paws.SIZE: There is considerable variability in the size of brown bears from different populations, depending on the food available. Determining representative weights of specific populations is also difficult as there are seasonal considerations to take into account-for instance, some bears can weigh twice as much in the fall as they might weigh in spring. Adult males may weigh 135 to 390 kilograms (300 to 860 pounds) compared with 95 to 205 kilograms (205 to 455 pounds) for females. At birth, cubs weigh 340 to 680 grams (11 ounces to 1 pound 6 ounces).

REPRODUCTION: Female brown bears reach sexual maturity at four-and-a-half to seven years of age. Males may become sexually mature at a similar age but are probably not large enough to be able to enter the breeding population until they a re eight to ten years old. Mating takes place from early May to the middle of July but implantation does not occur until about October or November. The young are born from about January to March. The litter size ranges from one to four, but two is most common. Cubs remain with their mothers for at least two-and-a-half years, so the most frequently a female can breed is every three years.

SOCIAL SYSTEM: Under most circumstances, brown bears live as lone individuals, except for females accompanied by their cubs. During the breeding season, a male may attend a female for up to two weeks for mating. Brown bears are distribut ed in overlapping home ranges and male home ranges are larger than those occupied by females.

DIET: Brown bears mainly eat vegetation such as grasses, sedges, bulbs, and roots. They also eat insects such as ants, fish, and small mammals. In some areas they have become significant predators of large hoofed mammals such as Marcopole Sheep, Ibex and Bharal ( all above information from International Association for Bear Research and Management (IBA).

Habitat and Distribution:

Their preferred habitat includes mountain forests, open meadows and large river. The Brown Bear in Pakistan is now very rare due to constant persecution by local villagers and by hunting. But the main threat to this bears survival is from local gypsies or “Kalandars”, who earn their living from dancing bears and bear baiting (read a special report about bear baiting in Pakistan from WSPA). These bears are caught after their mother is shot. It is sad to see more bears on the streets of the big cities of Pakistan than in the wild .This bear inhabits the remote northern regions of Pakistan. It is found in baltistan, Hunza, Gilgit, the slopes of Nanga Parbat, Khunjerab National Park and the Deosai Pleatue near Skardu. The Deosai Pleatue is a declared National Park and is the last stronghold of the Brown Bear in Pakistan. The total population in this National Park is 25-27 individuals. Elsewhere this bear is normally found solitary.