Status Survey and Conservation Action Plan Compiled by ... - Wildpro

Status Survey and Conservation Action Plan
Bears
Compiled by
Christopher Servheen, Stephen Herrero and Bernard Peyton
IUCN/SSC Bear Specialist Group
IUCN/SSC Polar Bear Specialist Group

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Status Survey and Conservation Action Plan
Bears
Compiled by Christopher Servheen, Stephen Herrero and Bernard Peyton
IUCN/SSC Bear Specialist Group
IUCN/SSC Polar Bear Specialist Group
Editorial assistance by Kristy Pelletier, Kana Moll, Joseph Moll

The designation of geographical entities in this book, and the presentation of the material, do not imply the expression of any opinion
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The opinions expressed in this volume do not necessarily reflect those of IUCN.
Published by: IUCN, Gland, Switzerland, and Cambridge, UK
Copyright: © 1998 International Union for Conservation of Nature and Natural Resources
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Citation: Servheen, C., Herrero, S., and Peyton, B. (compilers). (1998) Bears. Status Survey and Conservation Action Plan. IUCN/SSC
Bear and Polar Bear Specialist Groups. IUCN, Gland, Switzerland and Cambridge, UK. x + 309 pp.
ISBN: 2-8317-0462-6
Cover photo: Spectacled bear (Tremarctos ornatus), La Planada, Colombia. (J. Orejuela)
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ii

Foreword .......................................................................v
Acknowledgements .......................................................vi
Executive Summary .....................................................vii
Summary of the Status of Bear Species
by Distribution ..............................................................ix
CHRISTOPHER SERVHEEN
Chapter 1: Introduction ................................................. 1
STEPHEN HERRERO
The nature of bears.................................................. 1
Why conserve bears? ...............................................4
Status Survey and Conservation Action Plan
for Bears .................................................................. 6
Chapter 2: An Overview of Bear Conservation
Planning and Implementation ........................................ 8
BERNARD PEYTON, CHRISTOPHER SERVHEEN,
AND STEPHEN HERRERO
Introduction ............................................................8
Planning .................................................................. 8
Identifying threats ................................................... 9
Prioritizing threats ................................................. 10
Determining what is needed to address threats ..... 10
Implementation ..................................................... 14
Summary ............................................................... 24
Chapter 3: Genetics of the Bears of the World ............. 25
LISETTE WAITS, DAVID PAETKAU, AND CURTIS STROBECK
Overview ................................................................ 25
1. Interspecific phylogenetic analyses .................... 26
2. Intraspecific population structure analyses ....... 27
3. Genetic diversity within populations ................. 29
4. Ecological applications ...................................... 30
5. Forensic applications ......................................... 31
Chapter 4: The Trade in Bears and Bear Parts ............ 33
CHRISTOPHER SERVHEEN
Introduction .......................................................... 33
Origins of bile in trade ........................................... 33
Value of bear parts ................................................ 34
Bear farming .......................................................... 36
The future of trade in bear parts in
North America ...................................................... 36
Control of trade in bear parts ................................ 37
Chapter 5: Brown Bear Conservation Action Plan
for North America (Ursus arctos) ................................ 39
Introduction .......................................................... 40
Contents
iii
Alaska .................................................................... 40
STERLING D. MILLER AND JOHN SCHOEN
Canada ................................................................... 46
BRUCE MCLELLAN AND VIVIAN BANCI
United States: Grizzly Bear in the Lower 48 .......... 50
CHRISTOPHER SERVHEEN
Chapter 6: Brown Bear Conservation Action Plan
for Europe (Ursus arctos) ............................................ 55
Introduction .......................................................... 56
Austria ................................................................... 56
GEORG RAUER
Bulgaria ................................................................. 59
NIKOLAI SPASSOV AND G. SPIRIDONOV
Finland ................................................................... 63
ERIK S. NYHOLM AND KAI-EERIK NYHOLM
France .................................................................... 68
JEAN JACQUES CAMARRA
Greece .................................................................... 72
GEORGE MERTZANIS
Italy (Abruzzo) ....................................................... 81
GIORGIO BOSCAGLI
Italy (Trentino) ...................................................... 84
FABIO OSTI
Norway .................................................................. 86
OLE JAKOB SØRENSEN, JON E. SWENSON, AND TOR KVAM
Poland .................................................................... 89
WITOLD FRACKOWIAK, ROMAN GULA,
AND KAJETAN PERZANOWSKI
Romania ................................................................. 93
OVIDIU IONESCU
Russia (see page 136)
Slovakia ................................................................. 96
PAVEL HELL AND SLAVOMÍR FIND’O
Spain: eastern and western Cantabria ................... 100
Eastern Cantabrian subpopulation ................ 101
ANTHONY P. CLEVENGER AND FRANCISCO J. PURROY
Western Cantabrian subpopulation ............... 104
JAVIER NAVES CIENFUEGOS AND CARLOS NORES QUESADA
Sweden ................................................................. 111
JON E. SWENSON, FINN SANDEGREN, ANDERS BJÄRVALL,
ROBERT FRANZÉN, ARNE SÖDERBERG, AND PETTER WABAKKEN
Former Yugoslavia ............................................... 113
DJURO HUBER
Bosnia and Hercegovina ................................ 113
Croatia ........................................................... 115
Macedonia...................................................... 118
Montenegro and Serbia (with Kosovo) .......... 118
Slovenia .......................................................... 119
DJURO HUBER AND MIHA ADAMIC

Chapter 7: Brown Bear Conservation Action Plan
for Asia (Ursus arctos)............................................... 123
Introduction ........................................................ 123
China: Heilonjiang black and brown bears.......... 123
CHENG JIZHEN
India..................................................................... 125
S. SATHYAKUMAR
Japan: Hokkaido ................................................. 128
TSUTOMU MANO AND JOSEPH MOLL
Mongolia: Gobi bear ........................................... 131
THOMAS MCCARTHY
Russia .................................................................. 136
IGOR CHESTIN
Chapter 8: American Black Bear Conservation
Action Plan (Ursus americanus)................................. 144
MICHAEL R. PELTON, ALEX B. COLEY, THOMAS H. EASON,
DIANA L. DOAN MARTINEZ, JOEL A. PEDERSON,
FRANK T. VAN MANEM AND KEITH M. WEAVER
Introduction ........................................................ 144
Historic range, current distribution and status ... 145
Canada ................................................................. 147
United States........................................................ 151
Mexico ................................................................. 155
Chapter 9: Spectacled Bear Conservation
Action Plan (Tremarctos ornatus) .............................. 157
BERNARD PEYTON
Introduction ........................................................ 157
Benefits of spectacled bear conservation ............. 158
Status and distribution ........................................ 159
Legal status.......................................................... 161
Management ........................................................ 161
Human-bear interactions..................................... 162
Public education needs ........................................ 162
Specific conservation recommendations .............. 162
Bolivia .................................................................. 164
DAMIÁN I. RUMIZ AND JORGE SALAZAR
Colombia .............................................................. 168
JORGE OREJUELA AND JEFFREY P. JORGENSON
Ecuador ................................................................ 179
LUIS SUÁREZ
Perú ..................................................................... 182
BERNARD PEYTON – COORDINATOR
Venezuela ............................................................. 193
EDGARD YERENA – COORDINATOR
Chapter 10: Asiatic Black Bear Conservation
Action Plan (Ursus thibetanus) .................................. 199
Introduction ........................................................ 200
China ................................................................... 200
MA YIQING AND LI XIAOMIN
India..................................................................... 202
S. SATHYAKUMAR
Japan ................................................................... 207
TOSHIHIRO HAZUMI
Russia .................................................................. 211
IGOR CHESTIN AND VICTOR YUDIN
Taiwan: Formosan black bear ............................. 213
YING WANG
iv
Vietnam: black bear and sun bear........................ 216
DO DINH SAM
Chapter 11: Sun Bear Conservation Action Plan
(Helarctos malayanus) ............................................... 219
CHRISTOPHER SERVHEEN
Introduction ........................................................ 219
Historic range and current distribution ............... 219
Status ................................................................... 220
Legal status.......................................................... 220
Population threats ............................................... 221
Habitat threats .................................................... 221
Management ........................................................ 222
Human-bear interactions..................................... 222
Public education needs ........................................ 222
Specific conservation recommendations .............. 222
Lao PDR ............................................................. 223
RICHARD E. SALTER
Vietnam (see page 216)
Chapter 12: Sloth Bear Conservation Action Plan
(Melursus ursinus) ..................................................... 225
DAVID L. GARSHELIS, ANUP R. JOSHI, JAMES L.D. SMITH,
AND CLIFFORD G. RICE
Introduction ........................................................ 225
General distribution ............................................ 227
Populations and status ........................................ 228
India..................................................................... 229
Nepal ................................................................... 236
Chapter 13: Giant Panda Conservation Action Plan
(Ailuropoda melanoleuca) .......................................... 241
DONALD G. REID AND JIEN GONG
Overview of the giant panda ................................ 241
Status and distribution ........................................ 244
Legal status.......................................................... 246
Population threats ............................................... 246
Habitat threats .................................................... 248
Management ........................................................ 251
Human-panda interactions .................................. 251
Public education needs ........................................ 252
Specific conservation recommendations .............. 252
Chapter 14: Global Status and Management
of the Polar Bear (Ursus maritimus) .......................... 255
IUCN/SSC POLAR BEAR SPECIALIST GROUP
Introduction ........................................................ 256
Current distribution and status ........................... 256
Population and habitat threats ............................ 260
Management ........................................................ 262
Specific conservation recommendations .............. 270
Literature Cited ......................................................... 271
Appendix 1: Bear Specialist Group Members
and Contributing Authors .......................................... 297
Appendix 2: Polar Bear Specialist Group Members ... 302
Appendix 3: IUCN Red List Categories ..................... 303

The bears are one of the most diverse groups of large
mammals. Bears are well-known and have a positive
image for much of the public. They occupy an extremely
wide range of habitats including lowland tropical rain
forest along the equator, both coniferous and deciduous
forests, prairie grasslands, desert steppe, coastal rainforest,
arctic tundra, and alpine talus slopes. They are
opportunistic omnivores whose diet varies from plant
foliage, roots, and fruits; insect adults, larvae, and eggs;
animal matter from carrion; animal matter from predation;
and fish. Their dentition and digestive system reflects this
varied diet.
The eight bear species currently exist in more than 60
countries on four continents. Unfortunately, bear numbers
and range are declining in most areas of their range. Some
species have been reduced in numbers by 50% or more in
the past 100 years. Many populations are fragmented and
thus more vulnerable, and human activity continues to
intrude into bear habitat. The time for conservation action
is growing short for many species and it is likely that in the
next 20 years, many isolated bear populations will go
extinct forever.
Bears are a key indicator of ecosystem health wherever
they are found. As such, bears can be a key focus for
ecosystem conservation. Conservation of bears and the
maintenance of the habitat they need to survive will
conserve habitat and space needed for many other species.
Conservation of bears also conserves resources needed by
local communities such as watersheds, wildlife, and the
local culture that in many cases includes bears in legends
and stories.
Bears are declining in many areas due to a lack of
awareness of their precarious status and limited knowledge
Foreword
v
about what can and must be done to conserve them. This
is particularly acute in developing countries in Asia. Outside
of bears in Japan and some parts of India and Nepal, and
the giant panda in China, there is virtually nothing known
about the bears in the wild in Asia. Asia is the place where
the Asiatic black bear, sloth bear, sun bear, and some
populations of brown bear face an uncertain future.
Increasing fragmentation of populations combined with
ongoing habitat loss and unregulated killing often for sale
of parts threaten these Asian bears.
The purpose of this status report and conservation
action plan is to highlight what we know and what we
don’t know about all the bears of the world. We have tried
to make suggestions on how to successfully implement
conservation programs for bears and their habitat.
Hopefully this report can be a resource for governments,
conservation organizations, land managers, and students
to focus conservation efforts and to serve as a benchmark
about the current status of bear conservation.
The production of this Action Plan began in the early
1990s. Inevitably, some of the information will have become
dated by the time of publication. However, we consider it
important not to delay publication by seeking updates at
this stage. We would ask the readers to consider this
publication as one step in the continuous process of action
planning for bears, recognizing that new information is
constantly becoming available. It is not meant to be an end
to the story of bear conservation, but a beginning.
Christopher Servheen
Co-Chair, IUCN/SSC Bear Specialist Group
University of Montana
Missoula, Montana 59812 USA

Many people worked on the production of this document.
First of all thanks are due to the experts on bears worldwide
who were the authors of this document: Miha Adamic,
Vivian Banci, Anders Bjarvall, Giorgio Boscagli, Jean
Jacques Camarra, Igor Chestin, Anthony Clevenger, Alex
B. Coley, Do Dinh Sam, Diana L. Doan Martinez, Thomas
H. Eason, Slavomir Find’o, Wiltold Frackowiak, Robert
Franzen, David Garshelis, Jein Gong, Roman Gula,
Toshihiro Hazumi, Pavel Hell, Steve Herrero, Djuro
Huber, Ovidiu Ionescu, the IUCN/SSC Polar Bear
Specialist Group, Cheng Jizhen, Jeffery Jorgenson, Anup
Joshi, Tor Kvam, Li Xiaomin, Tsutomu Mano, Tom
McCarthy, Bruce McLellan, Jorgos Mertzanis, Sterling
Miller, Joseph Moll, Javier Naves Cienfuegos, Erik
Nyholm, Kai-Eerik Nyholm, Jorge Orejuela, Fabio Osti,
David Paetkau, Joel A. Pederson, Michael Pelton, Kajetan
Perzanowski, Bernie Peyton, Francisco Purroy, Carlos
Nores Quesada, Georg Rauer, Don Reid, Clifford Rice,
Damian Rumiz, Jorge Salazar, Richard Salter, Finn
Sandegren, S. Sathyakumar, John Schoen, James Smith,
Arne Soderberg, Ole Jakob Sorensen, Nikolai Spassov,
G. Spiridonov, Curtis Strobeck, Luis Suarez, Jon Swenson,
Mitch Taylor, Frank T. van Manen, Petter Wabakken,
Lisette Waits, Keith M. Weaver, Ying Wang, Oystein
Wiig, Edgard Yerena, Ma Yiqing, Victor Yudin. These
people represent the experts on bear biology status and
management as well as specialists in genetics and other
fields.
Thanks are due to Dr. George Rabb who had the vision
to support the production of this document and whose
support started the whole project rolling. Whitney Tilt and
Acknowledgements
vi
Amos Eno of the National Fish and Wildlife Foundation
were very supportive and made commitments that allowed
us to complete this task. Alison Wilson and Elise Blackburn
worked tirelessly editing and proof reading, and checking
tables, figures, and citations. Mariano Giminez-Dixon at
IUCN was a constant supporter of this project and helped
in many ways. Thanks are also due to the International
Association for Bear Research and Management, the
professional organization of bear biologists, and its past
president Dr. Sterling Miller for support and encouragement
throughout this process.
Recognition and special thanks are due to the editorial
efforts of Kristy Pelletier, Kana Moll, and Joe Moll who
carried the burden of so many details in such a complex
and long-term project. Their skill and dedication at
organizing such a large amount of diverse information
from so many people is sincerely appreciated and this
project would not have been completed without them.
They spent many hours at the computer reading
manuscripts, checking details, and contacting authors.
Given the scope of this document, it is recognized that
some errors exist, and I take full responsibility for them. In
some cases, there was disagreement between authors or
discrepancies in the text. Judgment was used to make
decisions in these cases, and I accept responsibility for
such decisions.
Christopher Servheen
Co-chair, IUCN/SSC Bear Specialist Group
University of Montana
Missoula, Montana 59812 USA

This status survey and conservation action plan describes
the status and conservation needs of the eight bear species
of the world. These species currently live in more than 65
countries/autonomous regions in four continents. They
are a diverse group of large mammals living in a variety of
habitats from tropical rainforests to arctic ice. Bears are
the umbrella species in most of the ecosystems they inhabit.
The conservation of bears and their habitats will preserve
the most biodiversity in these areas and focus management
efforts on preserving watershed resources that also sustain
human populations.
Conservation efforts for bears in North America and
Western Europe are much more intensive and coordinated
than in Asia or Latin America where research and
management are minimal or nonexistent. The exception to
this in Asia is the intensive conservation of the giant panda
in China. The greatest threats to bears exist in Asia, the
Middle East, and parts of South America (Table 1).
All bear species have declined in numbers and
distribution due to the impacts of human activities. Major
activities that impact bears are habitat alteration and
destruction resulting from forest conversion to agriculture,
human settlement in bear habitat, and excessive forest
harvest. Unregulated killing of bears for sport, sale of
their parts in medicinal products, protection of crops or
livestock, and fear of these powerful animals has led to
their decline.
Asian bears face a particularly destructive combination
of all these threats as well as a critical lack of knowledge
about their status, distribution, and requirements for
survival. Many bear populations in these areas will
disappear before they are ever documented.
Bear populations at greatest risk include Asiatic black
bear populations in Baluchistan, Taiwan, and many areas
of Southeast Asia; many small isolated sloth bear
Table 1. Bear species at greatest risk.
Executive Summary
vii
populations throughout their range; sun bear populations
throughout their range; brown bear populations in
Mongolia, Tibet, France, Spain, and Italy; all giant panda
populations; and the spectacled bear populations in
Venezuela, Columbia, and the desert populations in Peru.
Priority actions for bear conservation include:
• Initiate surveys of status and distribution for Asian
bears; particularly sun bears and Asiatic black bears in
Southeast Asia and southwest Asia, and brown bears
in the Middle East and southern Asia.
• Develop cooperative projects to work with select
countries in the range of sun bears, Asiatic black bears,
spectacled bears, and Asian brown bears to establish
local managers with knowledge of and experience with
bears and to develop management plans. This is
particularly important in countries with unknown bear
populations like Indonesia, Malaysia, Thailand, Laos,
Vietnam, Myanmar, and Venezuela and in countries
with significant bear populations where more effort is
needed such as China, Far East Russia, Ecuador,
Bolivia, and Peru.
• Enhance cross-border management efforts as many of
the best remaining populations and habitats exist across
international borders such as Peru-Bolivia-Ecuador,
Columbia-Venezuela, Laos-Vietnam, and Greece-
Bulgaria-Macedonia-Albania, and France-Spain.
• Support research projects to develop basic knowledge
of habitat requirements, population status and survey
methods, and mortality management to serve as the
biological basis for management plans.
• Document the impacts of illegal trade in bears in Asian
countries and select study areas to document these
impacts on representative populations of Asiatic black
bears in China and in places in Southeast Asia such as
in Laos or Vietnam.
Distribution Conservaton
Species areas Status Threats efforts
Giant panda China Endangered Small numbers; fragmented populations Intensive
Asiatic black bear Asia Threatened to Highly fragmented; virtually unknown in the None
Endangered wild; ongoing killing for parts trade
Sun bear Southeast Asia Threatened or Highly fragmented; unknown in the wild; None
Endangered but
basically unknown
habitat conversion
Sloth bear Indian subcontinent Threatened Highly fragmented; intensive human pressures Few
Spectacled bear South America Threatened Habitat loss; illegal hunting; lack of
sustainable resource use by local people
Few

• Link bears to ecosystem health and human community
prosperity in countries within the range of each species
with projects that focus on the needs of bears, humans
and their shared resources.
• Study the relationship of forest harvest to sun bear and
spectacled bear food habits and habitat use in tropical
forests where harvest pressure is high and where the
impacts of harvest are unknown.
• Work with local wildlife managers to develop sound
viii
research programs, population survey techniques, and
sustainable harvest plans in eastern European countries
such as Romania and Bulgaria.
This action plan attempts to summarize a vast amount of
information. It details much of what we know about bears,
but the gaps clearly show what we do not know and where
we need to place our conservation efforts in the future if we
are to stop the decline of bear populations worldwide.

Summary of the Status of Bear Species
by Distribution
Christopher Servheen
Summary of the status of bear species by distribution.
Species IUCN Red List CITES Country Population status Species
Category listing account
(p.)
Giant panda EN(B1+2c,C2a) Appendix I 241
Ailuropoda melanoleuca
China Small, endangered
Sun bear
Helarctos malayanus
DD Appendix I 219
Myanmar Unknown
Thailand Unknown
Laos Unknown 223
Vietnam Unknown 216
China Unknown
Cambodia Unknown
Malaysia Widespread but unknown
Indonesia Widespread but unknown
Sloth bear
Melursus ursinus
VU(A2cd,C1+2a) Appendix I 225
India Isolated populations, decreasing? 229
Sri Lanka Decreasing?
Nepal Stable? 236
Bhutan Unknown
Bangladesh Unknown, Extinct?
Spectacled bear
Tremarctos ornatus
VU(A2bc) Appendix I 157
Columbia Small, threatened 168
Venezuela Small, threatened 193
Ecuador Decreasing 179
Perú Decreasing 182
Bolivia Decreasing 164
American black bear
Ursus americanus
LR(lc) Appendix II 144
Canada Stable 147
United States Stable to decreasing 151
Mexico Stable 155
Brown bear LR(lc) Appendix II 39–143
Ursus arctos
Norway Very small, threatened 86
Sweden Increasing 111
Finland Stable 63
Estonia Stable
Belarus Unknown
Latvia Very small, threatened
European Russia Increasing? 136
Romania Large numbers, decreasing 93
Ukraine Decreasing
Slovakia Increasing 96
Poland Stable 89
Czech Republic Very small, threatened
Bosnia and Hercegovina Decreasing 113
ix

Summary of the status of bear species by distribution ... continued.
Species IUCN Red List CITES Country Population Status Species
Category listing Account
(p.)
Brown bear ... continued Yugoslav Federation Decreasing 118
Croatia Stable 115
Slovenia Stable 119
Greece Very small, threatened 72
Macedonia Very small, threatened 118
Albania Stable?
Austria Very small, threatened 56
Italy Very small, threatened 81,84
Bulgaria Decreasing 59
Spain Very small, threatened 100
France Very small, endangered 67
Turkey Unknown
Georgia Unknown
Azerbajhan Unknown
Syria Unknown
Iraq Unknown
Iran Small?
Turkmenistan Unknown
Kazakhstan Unknown
Uzbekistan Unknown
Tajikistan Unknown
Kyrgyzstan Unknown
Afghanistan Unknown
Pakistan Very small, endangered
India Small, threatened 125
Appendix I China Fragmented, threatened 123
Appendix I Mongolia Very small, endangered 131
Central/eastern Russia Stable to decreasing 136
Japan Stable? 128
United States Stable to increasing 40,40
Canada Stable? 46
Polar bear
Ursus maritimus
LR(cd) Appendix II 255
Canada Stable
Norway Stable
Greenland Stable
Russia Stable
United States Stable
Asiatic black bear VU(A1cd) Appendix I 199
Ursus thibetanus
Far East Russia Decreasing 211
China Decreasing to stable? 200
Japan Decreasing 207
South Korea Extinct?
North Korea Unknown, extinct?
Taiwan Very small, endangered 213
Vietnam Unknown 216
Laos Unknown
Cambodia Unknown
Thailand Unknown
Myanmar Unknown
Malaysia Unknown
Bangladesh Unknown
India Decreasing? 202
Nepal Unknown
Bhutan Unknown
CR (B1+2abc,C2a) Pakistan Very small, endangered
CR (B1+2abc,C2a) Iran Very small, endangered
x