The Himalayan Black Bear 



corpulent man with short muscular limbs, and its 

 vitals lie in much the same region, with regard to its 

 shoulders, as those of a human being. It is flat- 

 chested, and its fore-quarters are straight and placed 

 far forward, so it is necessary to plant your bullet a 

 good span behind the shoulder, and pretty high up. 

 This, of course, only applies when there is time for a 

 deliberate aim and a good position for taking it from." 

 Maize, fruits, nuts, and roots form the main rations 

 of the black bear ; acorns, walnuts, and chestnuts 

 affording a large portion of its nutriment during 

 autumn and winter ; and while this species digs much 

 less in the ground for roots and bulbs than its brown 

 cousin, it is much more prone to climb in search of 

 fruits. Honey is another favourite article of diet, in 

 search of which it will sometimes not hesitate to enter 

 villages ; indeed, it not unfrequently displays a tendency 

 to resort to the neio-hbourhood of human habitations. 

 It has been mentioned that the brown bear occasionally 

 makes a meal off a dead carcase, and the present 

 species now and then displays a similar penchant for 

 carrion. Nor is it by any means contented with dead 

 animals, for it will not unfrequently attack and kill 

 various domesticated species, including cattle and 

 ponies ; and it is stated to be the most carnivorously 

 disposed of any Indian bear. 



Since it inhabits, as a rule, a lower and warmer 

 zone than its brown cousin, it would be natural 

 to suppose that the black 'bear is a less thorough 

 hibernator ; and such seems to be the case, these 

 bears undergoing only a partial sleep, safely ensconced 

 in caves or hollow trees, and waking up in warmer 

 intervals during the winter to refresh themselves by a 

 walk and a feed. In the following account of bear-hunting 

 in Burma, taken from the Asian of November 27, 1896, 

 the writer regarded the animals of which he was in 

 pursuit as sloth-bears, but as these do not occur in 

 that country there is little doubt they belong^ed to 



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