First photographic evidence of Asiatic Black Bear Ursus thibetanus in Kaziranga Tiger Reserve, India

Borah, Priyanka; Deka, Jyotish Ranjan; Ahamad, Mujahid; Sharma, Rabindra; Badola, Ruchi; Hussain, Syed Ainul

doi:10.11609/jott.7660.14.2.20677-20679

Cited by 1 publication

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References 2 publications

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“…A number of recent studies have detected rare mammalian carnivores by camera trapping in Meghalaya or other areas in the region [44,45,[81][82][83], including sun bears [84]. There is a difference, though, between detecting a species inadvertently during a biodiversity survey, and searching for a specific species that may or may not exist, or may never have occurred there historically.…”

Section: Identifying Rare Look-alike Speciesmentioning

confidence: 99%

Investigating Co-occurrence among Look-alike Species: The Case of Three Bears in Northeast India

Garshelis¹,

Dharaiya

Sharp³

et al. 2022

Diversity

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At the most basic level, the assessment of a species’ status involves knowing where it occurs. Determining the presence of rare species is difficult, and can be further confounded by the presence of a more common look-alike species. We investigated one of the few places in the world where three species of bears have been reported to co-occur at a fine scale: Balpakram National Park, Meghalaya, India. Asiatic black bears (Ursus thibetanus) are fairly common, and we sought to determine whether sun bears (Helarctos malayanus) and/or sloth bears (Melursus ursinus) also resided there. The local Garo language has words for three types of bears, and some local people reported the continued presence of a small type of bear, possibly the sun bear, but the probable extirpation of sloth bears. Because these bears look somewhat alike, local people and government forest officers could not provide convincing accounts of the presence of more than one species. We measured claw marks on climbed trees, a method used to differentiate sun bears from Asiatic black bears where both are known to occur; however, this method turned out to be unreliable for detecting sun bears where their presence was unknown because sun bear-sized marks are not distinguishable from juvenile black bears. We recommend targeted camera trapping near recent purported sightings of the other two bear species.

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Section: Identifying Rare Look-alike Speciesmentioning

confidence: 99%