Recently, two Asian black bears on Hokkaido Island have been caught in a scuffle, prompting netizens to wonder: "Why are Yogi and Boo-Boo throwing punches?"
Video screenshot
Actually, based on their physical features, Brother Bear and Brother Two have brown fur and round ears, indicating that they are likely brown bears (although they also have white markings on their chests similar to those of Asian black bears, but relatively shorter).
The social rules of Asian black bears
Asian black bears, along with other bear species like brown bears, are solitary animals. Unlike the portrayal in cartoons where two adult brothers live together, once the bear cubs grow up, they venture out on their own and don't typically stay with their siblings.
Asian black bear photographed at Tianjin Zoo.
In the animal kingdom, instances of siblings living together primarily occur among male lions, where they cooperate in hunting and share territory. Other animals that share territory include matrilineal societies such as spotted hyenas, and meerkats, among others.
Male bears, on the other hand, typically become independent around two to three years of age and will deter other Asian black bears from approaching. From around four years onwards, they may mate with several female bears during a brief mating season but do not participate in parenting. After giving birth, female bears care for their cubs independently. Additionally, cubs born in the same litter may not necessarily have the same father.
Note: Asian black bears typically mate in summer and autumn, although mating months may vary depending on the region, such as June to July in the northeast.
The Lionscape Coalition: Sharing Territory Among Lions
Image Source: andBeyond
The other two frolicking Asian black bears. Image source: travelblog.org
The Asian black bears in the video, also known as "moon bears" or "sloth bears," are easily identifiable by their black fur, round Mickey Mouse-like ears, and distinctive white patch on their chest resembling a scarf.
They are residents of forests in eastern Asia and the Indochinese Peninsula, as well as some parts of South Asia, ranging from the island of Taiwan to the foothills of India, from the Japanese islands to the eastern side of the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau, from the snowy forests of the north to the tropical monsoon forests of Thailand.
Asian black bears, photographed at Beijing Zoo.
How did Asian black bears come to rule the roost? It all began in the early Pleistocene, when the primitive subspecies of the Asian black bear, known as the early bear, roamed the forests of southern China. By the middle to late Pleistocene, they had spread to northern China and many of the areas where they are found today, including Spain, Italy, the Balkans, Germany, France, and other regions, all of which were once home to the Asian black bear.
Following the Ice Age, the distribution of Asian black bears decreased significantly. However, sightings of Asian black bears standing on their hind legs in forests or climbing trees were still common, leading some to mistake them for the mythical "Yeti" or "Wildman." In reality, DNA analysis has shown that these so-called "Yeti" are actually Asian black bears or their close relatives, brown bears.
While the legend of the Yeti may be false, the differentiation of Asian black bears into various subspecies is indeed true. These subspecies include the Northeast Asian subspecies found from the northeastern provinces of China to the Korean Peninsula, the Japanese subspecies found in Japan, the Sichuan subspecies found in southern China, the Tibetan subspecies found in the Himalayan region, the Taiwanese subspecies found on the island of Taiwan, and the Pakistani subspecies found in South Asia. These subspecies exhibit differences among them, such as the relatively longer fur seen in the Tibetan black bear.
Image of the adorable subspecies of Taiwan black bear. Image source: TaiwanHolland
The Tibetan subspecies of the Asiatic black bear. Image source: indiabiodiversity.org
The Life Story of the Asiatic Black Bear
The forest is where the Asiatic black bear calls home, and it's also where it finds its food.
With short and sharp claws, the Asiatic black bear is adept at climbing trees. Fruits and tender shoots on trees, mushrooms and bamboo shoots on the forest floor, and the delicious honey inside beehives are all feasts for the Asiatic black bear.
Their canine teeth are somewhat short and their molars well-developed, which means they eat relatively less meat compared to their larger cousins, the brown bear and polar bear. They lean towards a vegetarian diet. Being bulky creatures, they can't chase after prey as swiftly as tigers or wolves.
However, eating relatively less meat doesn't mean they won't eat it at all. They will kill (using their forelimbs and jaws) fish and frogs, as well as smaller mammals, insects, birds in the sky, even small deer, Eurasian wild boars, and occasionally even the aggressive and massive antelope that often injures humans, all have been recorded as meals for the Asiatic black bear.
The Asiatic black bear, also known as the short-clawed bear, is native to Asia. Despite its small stature, it can be quite aggressive. Image source: zoochat.com
The author captured footage of gazelles at the Beijing Zoo.
The biggest natural enemies of the Asian black bear are the "kings of the forest" — tigers, and the "big brothers" — brown bears. Asian black bears, which are relatively gentle and smaller, capable of climbing trees, use this skill to avoid encounters with these larger fellows who are not so adept at tree climbing. However, there are records of larger Asian black bears successfully driving away mother tigers. Additionally, packs of jackals and wolves sometimes inflict injuries on Asian black bears.
The image depicts the Ussuri brown bear subspecies found in Northeast China. Image source: critter.science
As for the size of Asian black bears, it depends on the region and the gender. In regions like the Korean Peninsula, the Northeastern provinces of China, and the southeastern part of Russia where the Ussuri subspecies (Ursus thibetanus ussuricus, the one shown in this video) is found, they can be quite large. Adult male bears can weigh on average between 120 to 150 kilograms, with some even exceeding 200 kilograms, while adult female bears can weigh over 80 to 90 kilograms.
On the other hand, the Japanese subspecies of black bears are generally smaller, with fewer exceeding 120 kilograms. The Sichuan subspecies found in southern China falls somewhere in between the two. Additionally, there are also large Asian black bears in the Kashmir region of South Asia.
The Japanese subspecies of the Asian black bear. Source: Zoochat official website
They have different habitats and slightly different habits. One notable difference is in hibernation between northern and southern black bears. As September arrives in the north, a large amount of nuts becomes the special feast for Asian black bears to fatten up for the autumn, while many bears in the south either do not hibernate or move to lower altitudes.
However, if a mother bear is pregnant, she will choose to hibernate regardless of location. During hibernation, they neither eat nor drink, relying on milk to nourish their newborn cubs. They choose empty large trees as warehouses, or caves and rock dens. These caves are suitable for resting, but there is also a risk of being discovered by tigers.
Seeking Food: Asiatic Black Bear
Image Source: IBTimes
Note: Asiatic black bears in the Qinling Mountains region hibernate for a shorter duration compared to those in northern regions, usually from around January to March.
Asiatic Black Bears and Human Civilization
After the Ice Age, many surviving large animals have gained significant symbolic significance within human civilization.
For instance, the tiger became one of the twelve zodiac signs, lions became revered as guardian deities and protectors against evil in temples, Asian elephants and water buffalo became associated with divine beings in Buddhism and Taoism, and the American black bear became the embodiment of sacred spirits in certain Native American mythologies.
And what about the Asiatic black bear? It's also held its own in this regard. The Yellow Emperor was associated with the bear clan, and Fuxi was known as the "Yellow Bear Clan." In ancient Chinese, the character for bear specifically referred to the Asiatic black bear (with a different character used for brown bears), and dreaming of an Asiatic black bear was considered an auspicious omen for giving birth to a healthy boy - "As the bear, as the pi, the auspice of a boy," as directly quoted from the Book of Songs.
In Japanese mythology, Asiatic black bears are regarded as representatives of mountain god's power, and the Oroqen people have a myth of the "descendants of human-bear symbiosis." However, perhaps the cutest portrayal of the Asiatic black bear is seen in the introduction of Kumamon, the mascot of Kumamoto Prefecture, whose adorable image and emoticon comics have gained widespread popularity in China, Japan, and other countries.
The mischievous little rascals. [Image Source: babyanimalzoo.com]
Kumamon Image
Source: wallpapers.com
Certainly, the chubby and clumsy appearance of Asian black bears has also brought them the image of being "adorably silly."
The allegory of "the bear breaking the stick" has deeply resonated with people—although the tale contains factual inaccuracies (Asian black bears actually eat corn by directly gnawing it), if Asian black bears were truly that foolish, there wouldn't be so many farmers fearing their livestock and crops being raided by them.
A study conducted in 2016 on Asian black bears in a protected area in Bhutan found that nearly half of the interviewed locals mentioned bear-inflicted damages to livestock and crops, with over half of them believing that hunting Asian black bears might alleviate the conflict. Near the Changqing Reserve in Yang County, Shaanxi, some residents also reported frequent damage to their beehives.
The area around the Baoshan region of the Gaoligong Mountains becomes a hotspot for Asian black bear incidents from midsummer to early autumn. In response, measures such as using artificial intelligence for image recognition (to identify bears and emit sounds to drive them away) are crucial, along with providing locals with reasonable economic compensation.
The Asian black bears captured in Myanmar, source: myanmarmix.com.
Amidst the conflicts, some individuals have resorted to poaching and encroaching on black bear habitats, subjecting Asian black bears to torture to extract their bile.
The Asian black bear released on the Korean Peninsula. Image source: IUCN official website.
The Asiatic black bear found in a certain region. Image source: Animals Asia
This fellow, possibly eyeing a robe to steal, is now a nationally protected species. Despite being an omnivore with a relatively docile nature, and not losing much habitat in China, they still face potential survival threats. What we really need to do is to respect and keep our distance from them.
