European Brown Bear 93 



instructions to treat these animals as vermin, and to kill them whenever 

 occasion occurs. 



Whether local races in the area mentioned above are capable of being 

 defined must await the acquisition of a larger series of specimens than our 

 Museums at present possess ; but that very great individual variation in 

 colour and size obtains among European brown bears has been long known. 

 The late Professor Nilsson, for instance, notices the occurrence of six 

 different colour varieties in Sweden alone ; these he classes as black, dark- 

 brown, brown washed with white (silver), red-brown, brown with a white 

 gorget, and variegated or albino. But it does not appear that any of 

 these colour phases have a definite geographical distribution, while it is 

 quite likely that some of them are only seasonal. Again, the bear of the 

 Pyrenees is stated, at least in the case of immature examples, to be 

 characterised by its yellowish fur and black feet ; the hairs of the body 

 being brown with yellow tips, but those on the head deep yellowish. If 

 this prove a distinct race, the name pyrcnaiciis is available. 



In the Caucasus bears are found throughout the wooded area, as they 

 also are in Transcaucasia. The ordinary brown form, according to Prince 

 DemidofF,^ is found at all elevations, and varies in the colour of its fur 

 according to the season of the year, being at one time light brown with a 



reddish tinge, from which it changes to brown of so dark a shade as to 

 approach black. About eighteen stone is a good weight for a fine 

 specimen. 



On the higher grounds of the same area occurs a smaller and greyer 

 form, which Prince Demidoff calls the mountain grey bear. It is stated to 

 have a longer snout than the typical brown bear, while its chest is 

 generally marked with a white gorget or collar. It lives among the high 

 rocks, from which it seldom descends to lower elevations, and is stated to 

 be fiercer in disposition than its larger brown relative. 



1 Hunting Trips in the Cauciuus, p. 13 (1898). 



