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The Tibetan bear (''Ursus arctos pruinosus'') or Tibetan blue bear is a subspecies of the
The
The exact conservation status of the blue bear is unknown, due to limited information. However, in the United States trading blue bear specimens or products is restricted by the Endangered Species Act. It is also listed in Appendix I of the
The blue bear is notable for having been suggested as one possible inspiration for the
brown bear
The brown bear (''Ursus arctos'') is a large bear species found across Eurasia and North America. In North America, the populations of brown bears are called grizzly bears, while the subspecies that inhabits the Kodiak Islands of Alaska is ...
(''Ursus arctos'') in the eastern Tibetan Plateau
The Tibetan Plateau (, also known as the Qinghai–Tibet Plateau or the Qing–Zang Plateau () or as the Himalayan Plateau in India, is a vast elevated plateau located at the intersection of Central, South and East Asia covering most of the ...
.
One of the rarest subspecies of bear in the world, the blue bear is rarely sighted in the wild. First classified in 1851, it was once known in the West only through a small number of fur and bone samples. However, the 2021 French documentary ''The Velvet Queen'' (''La Panthère des Neiges'') did manage to capture extensive footage of the reclusive animal.
Common names
Tibetan blue bear is also known as the Himalayan blue bear, Himalayan snow bear, Tibetan brown bear, and the horse bear. In Tibetan, it is known as .Taxonomy
The Gobi bear
The Gobi bear (''Ursus arctos gobiensis''), known in Mongolian as the ''Mazaalai'' (), is a subspecies of the brown bear (''Ursus arctos'') that is found in the Gobi Desert of Mongolia
Mongolia; Mongolian script: , , ; lit. "Mongol ...
is sometimes classified as being of the same subspecies as the Tibetan blue bear; this is based on morphological similarities, and the belief that the desert-dwelling Gobi bear represents a relict
A relict is a surviving remnant of a natural phenomenon.
Biology
A relict (or relic) is an organism that at an earlier time was abundant in a large area but now occurs at only one or a few small areas.
Geology and geomorphology
In geology, a r ...
population of the blue bear. However, the Gobi bear is sometimes classified as its own subspecies, and closely resembles other Asian brown bears.
Distribution and habitat
It is possible that the occasional specimen might be observed traveling through high mountain peaks during times of reduced food supply, or in search of a mate. However, the limited information available about the habits and range of the blue bear makes such speculation difficult to confirm.Conservation
The exact conservation status of the blue bear is unknown, due to limited information. However, in the United States trading blue bear specimens or products is restricted by the Endangered Species Act. It is also listed in Appendix I of the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species
CITES (shorter name for the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora, also known as the Washington Convention) is a multilateral treaty to protect endangered plants and animals from the threats of interna ...
(CITES) as a protected species. It is threatened by the use of bear bile in traditional Chinese medicine
Traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) is an alternative medical practice drawn from traditional medicine in China. It has been described as "fraught with pseudoscience", with the majority of its treatments having no logical mechanism of action ...
and habitat encroachment.
In culture
The blue bear is notable for having been suggested as one possible inspiration for the yeti
The Yeti ()"Yeti"
''"Genève: 15 000 francs pour une peau de yéti"
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''
Sir Edmund Hillary
Sir Edmund Percival Hillary (20 July 1919 – 11 January 2008) was a New Zealand mountaineering, mountaineer, explorer, and philanthropy, philanthropist. On 29 May 1953, Hillary and Sherpa people, Sherpa mountaineer Tenzing Norgay became th ...
, returned with two scraps of fur that had been identified by locals as 'yeti fur' that were later scientifically identified as being portions of the pelt of a blue bear./ref>
References
External links
* {{Taxonbar, from=Q1997493 Carnivorans of Asia Mammals of Tibet Taxa named by Edward Blyth Bears