The status and management of bear resources in China

Abstract

There are three species of bears in China, brown bear (Ursus arctos), black bear (Selenarctos thibetanus) and sun bear (Helarctos malayanus). From 1991 to 1994, the investigation of bears organized by CWCA (China wildlife Conservation Association) was conducted in 22 provinces of China. The results showed that the distribution area of bears had been changed from the continuous distribution to fragmentary. The distribution areas of three species were limited to the area of 2591427 km², and the total number of population was reduced to 61686. The distribution area of black bear was 625086 km²; the population size was 46528; average density was 0.0714/km². The distribution area of brown bear was 1956691 km²; the population size was 14783; average density was 0.0076/km². The distribution area of sun bear was 9650 km²; the population size was from 350 to 400. There are 396 bear farms in China and the 6688 bears are being reared on these bear farms 94.4% of them is black bears (3612); 4.5% of them is brown bears (300); 1.1% of them is sun bears (10). The management of bears in China was discussed in this paper.