a 



2 2 CARNIVORES. 



The Himalayan black bear, is an exclusively, forest-dwelling animal, except in 

 Baluchistan, where it inhabits open country. Its range extends from about the 

 eastern portion of Persia through Baluchistan into Afghanistan and Sind; and 

 thence through the forest-clad portions of the Himalaya to Assam, and so on into 

 Burma. The species is also found in the south of China and the islands of Hainan 

 and Formosa, but in Ladak and Tibet it is quite unknown. 



The black bear may be found in the Himalaya, from near the foot 

 to elevations of some ten thousand to twelve thousand feet in summer. 

 It is, perhaps, most abundant in the dense chestnut and oak woods surrounding the 

 valley of Kashmir, whence it issues forth at night to make extensive depredations 

 on the crops and orchards of the natives. Although, according to General Kinloch, 

 the black bear will at times take to killing sheep, cattle, and ponies, it is, as a rule, 

 a vegetable feeder. In the forest the chief food of these bears consists of chest- 

 nuts, acorns, roots, berries, ants, and honey. Whenever they raid the cultivated 

 grounds, they consume maize, rice, buckwheat, and a number of fruits, such as 

 mulberries, apples, pears, apricots, and walnuts — the latter being especial favourites. 

 The gourds and melons which are cultivated in many of the gardens in Kashmir 

 are also sometimes eaten by these bears. So numerous are they that it is by no 

 means unfrequent to see two, three, or even more, up a single fruit tree in some of 

 the less frequented districts of Kashmir. They are, indeed, excellent climbers; 

 and their short claws are much better adapted for this purpose than for digging. 

 When in the forests they may be stalked during the day with comparative ease, 

 and will generally be found feeding on roots or wild fruits. This sport, as the 

 writer can state from personal experience, is by no means very exciting, as 

 they are easy of approach. Another method of hunting is by beating small 

 patches of jungle on the hills — urom below upwards — when the bears will be 

 driven out. They very frequently go in family parties, comprising the two 

 parents, the two youngest cubs, and one or perhaps two cubs of the preceding 

 litter. When driven from the forest, the whole party emerges in single file, 

 headed by the male, who is followed by the female, after which come the cubs 

 according to seniority. They always break cover with the usual deliberate and 

 sober pace characteristic of all bears, and when the party comprises five or six 

 individuals the sight is ludicrous in the extreme. 



The black bear, which is known in Kashmir as the Siyah Haput (in 

 contradistinction to the Kunea Haput, or brown bear), does not thoroughly 

 hibernate, but, according to General Kinloch, " appears to pass a great deal of his 

 time during the cold months in a state of semi-torpor; occasionally wandering out 

 in search of food, when an unusually mild day thaws his blood and awakens him 

 to the sense of hunger." 



Like its similarly-coloured relative in North America, the black Himalayan 

 bear is sharper in hearing than the brown bear, and it may be that the black 

 coloration has some connection with the greater development of this sense. In 

 disposition the black bear is decidedly more savage and prone to attack man than 

 the brown bear ; and in the fruit-season a large number of natives are annually 

 badly mauled in Kashmir by its talons. It must be confessed, however, that these 

 wounds are largely due to the foolhardiness of the natives themselves, who will 



