Save The Almost Extinct Himalayan Brown Bear

Описание: Deosai Plateau, at an average elevation of 4,114 meters (13,497 ft) above sea level, is the second highest plateau in the world, after the Chang Tang Plateau in Tibet.

Located at the boundary of the Karakorum and the western Himalayas, the plateau is well known for its rich flora and fauna, and especially for the wide variety of wild flowers and butterflies that sweep across it in spring.

It has also been recognised as the main stronghold of the Himalayan Brown Bear (Ursus arctos isabellinus), Pakistan's largest omnivore - once found in great numbers almost in the entire 150,000 kilometre stretch of north Pakistan's majestic mountain ranges, but in recent decades under threat.

Brown bears - who have a life expectancy of 15 to 34 years in the wild, and can live up to 45 years in captivity - are considered omnivorous mammals, feeding on both vegetation and fish, small rodents, or abandoned kills left by other predators that the bear scares off, despite largely feeding on plants alone.

But according to wildlife conservationist and film maker, Nisar Malik, who has spent years studying wildlife in the remote region, because of the destruction of their high-altitude habitat, humid forests and grasslands replaced in many areas by agriculture, many bears resorted to raiding corn fields to survive.

Most of those that did were shot by farmers.

Speaking to Reuters Television on Monday (November 25), Malik said there are very few areas where the bear can forage without being hunted, either by livestock ranchers and farmers, or by those who sell its body parts to Asian markets for traditional medicine.

"The reason a lot of these animals are hunted, I would say, are two different categories," he said.

"One is for hunting itself where people get a kick out of killing animals and making trophies out of them. The other is ignorance - ignorance because you think that eating a body part or making an oil or something out of an animal gives you some superhuman strength," he added.

The Himalayan bear is much smaller than some of the other subtypes of the brown bear, but is extremely fast and can run up to 35 mph (56 km per hour), and is powerful enough to kill animals larger than itself.

Although the brown bear is primarily nocturnal, it is frequently seen in the morning and in the early evening hours.

In summer through autumn, it can double its weight, gaining up to 180 kg (400 lb) of fat on which it relies to survive through the winter, when it hibernates inside caves.

Experts say the northern Pakistani bear population may have undergone an approximate 200-300 fold decrease during the last thousand years, probably due to glaciations and the influence of a growing human population.

According to local legend, Deosai (which means 'the land of Giants') was once inhabited by powerful giants who became so jealous of the brown bear that they decided to banish their huge rival out of the picturesque region.

In the past 50 years, the brown bear has become extinct in some parts of the country, and is believed to have disappeared altogether in Bhutan.

"The Himalayan Wildlife Foundation in the early 80s convinced the government to make Deosai a national park and protect the brown bears. Since then, the numbers have definitely gone up, and currently the estimates are anywhere above 50. So that's a positive sign," Malik said.

The Deosai National Park was established in 1993 to protect the survival of the Himalayan Brown Bear and its habitat.

Having long been a prize kill for poachers and hunters, the bear now has a hope for survival in Deosai, where their numbers have increased from only 19 in 1993 to 40 in 2005, and around 50 by 2012.

During the last decade, the Pakistani government, with substantial financial support from international environmental organisations, has taken a few but effective measures for the survival of brown bear in the region.

Since the brown bear's only real enemy is the human being, one such project is aimed at educating the local residents of the remote region who actually interact with the animals.

"Thank goodness there are no communities that live on top of the National Park, or around the National Park. They live beyond it. So the bears have a good fighting chance," Malik said.

As efforts to shore up the population continue however, the global population of the Himalayan brown bear remains under threat, and will be for the foreseeable future.