Asian black bear
| Asian black bear | |
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.JPG) |
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| Scientific classification | |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Chordata |
| Class: | Mammalia |
| Order: | Carnivora |
| Family: | Ursidae |
| Genus: | Ursus |
| Species: | U. thibetanus |
| Subspecies: | See text |
| Binomial name | |
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Ursus thibetanus (G. Cuvier, 1823) |
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| Asian black bear range (brown – extant, black – extinct, dark grey – presence uncertain) |
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| Synonyms | |
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Selenarctos thibetanus |
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Selenarctos thibetanus
Ursus torquatus (Blandford 1888)
The Asian black bear (Ursus thibetanus, previously known as Selenarctos thibetanus), also known as the moon bear, Asiatic black bear and white-chested bear, is a medium-sized bear species native to Asia and largely adapted to arboreal life. It lives in the Himalayas, in the northern parts of the Indian subcontinent, Korea, northeastern China, the Russian Far East, the Honshū and Shikoku islands of Japan, and Taiwan. It is classified as vulnerable by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN), mostly because of deforestation and hunting for its body parts.
The species is morphologically very similar to some prehistoric bears, and is thought by some scientists to be the ancestor of other extant bear species (aside from pandas and spectacled bears). Though largely herbivorous, Asian black bears can be very aggressive toward humans, who frequently trap or kill them for traditional medicine.
Asian black bears are black and have a light brown muzzle. They are white on the chin, and have a distinct white patch on the chest, which sometimes has the shape of a V. Their ears are bell shaped, proportionately longer than those of other bears, and stick out sideways from the head. The tail is 11 cm (4.3 in) long. Adults measure 70–100 cm (28–39 in) at the shoulder, and 120–190 cm (47–75 in) in length. Adult males weigh 60–200 kg (130–440 lb) with an average weight of about 135 kg (298 lb). Adult females weigh 40–125 kg (88–276 lb), and large ones up to 140 kg (310 lb).
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Wikipedia