The Ussuri black bear (''Ursus thibetanus ussuricus''), also known as the Manchurian black bear, is a large subspecies of the

Asian black bear The Asian black bear (''Ursus thibetanus''), also known as the Asiatic black bear, moon bear and white-chested bear, is a medium-sized bear species native to Asia that is largely adapted to an arboreal lifestyle. It lives in the Himalayas, so ...

native to the

Far East The ''Far East'' was a European term to refer to the geographical regions that includes East and Southeast Asia as well as the Russian Far East to a lesser extent. South Asia is sometimes also included for economic and cultural reasons. The t ...

, including the

Korean Peninsula Korea ( ko, 한국, or , ) is a peninsular region in East Asia. Since 1945, it has been divided at or near the 38th parallel, with North Korea (Democratic People's Republic of Korea) comprising its northern half and South Korea (Republic ...

.Heptner, V. G. & Naumov, N. P. (1998)
White-chested, black bear
Pages 713–733 in: ''Mammals of the Soviet Union'' Vol. II Part 1a, Sirenia and Carnivora (Sea cows; Wolves and Bears). Washington, D.C. : Smithsonian Institution Libraries and National Science Foundation.

Etymology

MSU V2P1a - Selenarctos thibetanus sketch

The subspecies is named after the

Ussuri River The Ussuri or Wusuli (russian: Уссури; ) is a river that runs through Khabarovsk and Primorsky Krais, Russia and the southeast region of Northeast China. It rises in the Sikhote-Alin mountain range, flowing north and forming part of the S ...

Ecology

Sympatric In biology, two related species or populations are considered sympatric when they exist in the same geographic area and thus frequently encounter one another. An initially interbreeding population that splits into two or more distinct species s ...

predators include the

Ussuri brown bear The Ussuri brown bear (''Ursus arctos lasiotus''), also known as the Ezo brown bear, Russian bear, or the black grizzly bear, is a subspecies of the brown bear or a population of the Eurasian brown bear (''U. a. arctos''). One of the largest b ...

and

Siberian tiger The Siberian tiger or Amur tiger is a population of the tiger subspecies '' Panthera tigris tigris'' native to the Russian Far East, Northeast China and possibly North Korea. It once ranged throughout the Korean Peninsula, but currently inh ...

References

Asiatic black bears Mammals of Korea Mammals of Russia Subspecies Taxa named by Pierre Marie Heude {{Carnivora-stub