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Himalayan Brown Bear
Conservation status
Endangered (IUCN 3.1)
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Chordata
Class:	Mammalia
Order:	Carnivora
Family:	Ursidae
Genus:	Ursus
Species:	U. arctos
Subspecies:	U. a. isabellinus
Trinomial name
Ursus arctos isabellinus Horsfield

The Himalayan Brown Bear (Ursus arctos isabellinus), also known as the Himalayan Red Bear, Isabelline Bear or Dzu-Teh, is a subspecies of the Brown Bear. The bear (as the Dzu-Teh) is thought to be the source of the legend of the Yeti.^[1][2]

Description

Himalayan Brown Bears exhibit sexual dimorphism. Males range from 1.5m up to 2.2m (4ft 11in - 7ft 3in) long, while females are 1.37m to 1.83m (4ft 6 in - 6ft) long. They are the largest animals in the Deosai National Park and are usually sandy or reddish-brown in colour.

Distribution

The bears are found in the foothills of the Himalaya and northern Pakistan and do not extend past Dachigam and Kashmir. There are presently 65 brown bears in the Deosai National Park.^[3]

Himalayan Brown Bear in Perm Zoo, Russia.

Behaviour and ecology

The bears go into hibernation around October and emerge during April and May. Hibernation usually occurs in a den or cave made by the bear.

Feeding

Himalayan Brown Bears are omnivores and will eat grasses, roots and other plants as well as insects and small mammals. They will also prey on large mammals, including sheep and goats. Adults will eat before sunrise and later during the afternoon.

Status and conservation

International trade is prohibited by the Wildlife Protection Act in Pakistan.

Association with the Yeti

"Dzu-Teh", a Nepalese term, has also been associated with the myth of the Yeti, or 'Abominable Snowman', with which it has been sometimes confused or mistaken. During the Daily Mail Abominable Snowman Expedition of 1954, Tom Stobbart encountered a "Dzu-Teh". This is recounted by Ralf Izzard, the Daily Mail correspondent on the expedition, in his book The Abominable Snowman Adventure.^[4] The report was also printed in the Daily Mail expedition dispatches on May 7th 1954 [1].

Notes

References and further reading

• "Status and Affinities of the Bears of Northeastern Asia", by Ernst Schwarz Journal of Mammalogy 1940 American Society of Mammalogists.
• Ogonev, S.I. 1932, "The mammals of eastern Europe and northern Asia", vol. 2, pp. 11-118. Moscow.
• Pocock R.I, "The Black and Brown Bears of Europe and Asia" Part 1. Journal or Bombay Natural History Society., vol. 35, no. 4, pp. 772-823, figs 1-11. July 15th 1932.
• Ursus arctos, by Maria Pasitschniak, Published 23 April 1993 by "The American Society of Mammalogists"
• John A. Jackson, "More than Mountains", Chapter 10 (pp 92) & 11, "Prelude to the Snowman Expedition & The Snowman Expedition", George Harrap & Co, 1954
• Ralph Izzard, "The Abominable Snowman Adventure", this is the detailed account by the Daily Mail correspondent on the 1954 expedition to find the "Snowman", Hodder and Staoughton, 1955.
• Charles Stonor, "The Sherpa and the Snowman", recounts the 1955 Daily Mail "Abominable Snowman Expedition" by the scientific officer of the expedition, this is a very detailed analysis of not just the "Snowman" but the flora and fauna of the Himalaya and its people. Hollis and Carter, 1955.
• John A. Jackson, "Adventure Travels in the Himalaya" Chapter 17, "Everest and the Elusive Snowman", 1954 updated material, Indus Publishing Company, 2005.
• Bear species found in India

External links

• Brown Bear Conservation Project of HWF
• Prof. Dr W. Henke, Mainz Institute of Anhtropology, Original German Version
• Himalayan Red Bear
• Red Bear
• Cryptozoology
• The Yeti
• Daily Mail Abominable Snowman
• [2] pictures of a refuge in East Russia