The Blue Bear 



It seems not improbable that this and other skins 

 of a similar type which have come under the writer's 

 notice indicate the existence of a representative of the 

 brown bear in Tibet. Indeed, on the supposition that 

 the blue bear is a distinct species, the presence of such 

 an animal is almost essential in order to link up the 

 Himalayan with the Shan brown bear. 



THE HIMALAYAN BLACK BEAR 



(Ursus torquatus) 



Native Names. — Rinch or Rich and Bhalu, Hindus- 

 tani ; Mum, Baluchi ; Siyah-haput^ Kashmiri ; 

 Sanar and Hing-hong, Nepalese ; Dom, Bhotia ; 

 Sona^ Lepcha ; Magyen, Limbo ; Situm, Daphla 

 Hills ; Situm^ Abor ; Mapol, Garo Hills ; 

 Muphur AND Musu-bhurma, Kachari ; Vumpi, 

 KuKi ; Sawom, Manipuri ; Hughum^ Thagua, 

 Thega, Chup, Sevan, and Sapa, Nagas ; Wek-iJcon, 

 Burmese. 



(Plate ix, fig. lo) 



Although a member of the genus Ursus^ and pos- 

 sessing the same number of front teeth as the brown 

 bear, the Siyah-haput, as the Himalayan black bear is 

 called by Kashmiri shikaris, is a very different animal 

 from the former, distinguished by its black colour and 

 conspicuous white gorget, as well as by the form of the 

 skull and cheek-teeth. It is often called Ursus tibetanus^ 

 but since it does not occur in Tibet, that name, although 

 earlier, is discarded in favour of the one given above. 



With the exception of the gorget, or inverted 

 crescent, on the chest, the ends of which are prolonged 

 upwards in front of the shoulders, and the chin, both 

 of which are white, the fur of this species is usually black 

 throughout ; although in some specimens the upper 



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