Asian Black Bear

The Asiatic Black Bear is also called White chested bear because of a strip of white hairs on its chest, shaped as a 'V' that strongly contrasts with its black fur. Living in forests in mountain areas (notably in the Himalayas), it lives at high altitude (3,000 m) in summer and goes down to the valleys to hibernate. An adult male can be almost 2 m tall and weigh 200 kg, while the female is smaller. The White chested bear is omnivorous: it is mainly vegetarian (nuts, fruit, roots), but it also eats insects (bees and their honey), small mammals and birds, and even carrion and sometimes, when famished, domestic pets. Thanks to its powerful front paws with long claws, it is an excellent climber that climbs mountains and high trees. The species, which includes tens of thousands of individuals spreads over a large geographical area, is listed as 'vulnerable' because of the deforestation of its habitat, hunting and still sometimes capture for the harvesting of its bile which is an element in the composition of traditional 'medicines'...