unsus. 195 



Size large. Claws moderate. Fur long in winter, thick, shagg3% 

 and soft, with woolly underfur, the hair on the back being as much 

 as 8 inches in length ; in summer the t'ur is shorter, thinner and 

 darker. Ears of moderate size, covered with long hair. 



Colour. Various shades of brown, from very pale to dark brown, 

 some animals silvery grey from the fur having white tips, some 

 are reddish brown. In the Eastern Tibetan form {U. pruinosus) 

 the liair on the back and limbs is blackish with pale tawny tips. 

 The fur is rather paler and greyer at the base. According to 

 Kinloch, as a rule in Kashmir old males are the darkest, young 

 animals and females paler, but there are exceptioiis. In young 

 animals there is a white half-collar on the breast, and this mark is 

 conspicuous in older individuals on the new fur, when the long 

 winter coat has recently been shed. Claws generally in Hima- 

 layan animals pale or white. 



Diuiensions rather variable, as in all bears, males being larger 

 than females. The Himalayan race {U. imhMums) appears, 

 judging from skulls, to run rather smaller than the European 

 brown bear. Scully gives the length in Gilgit as from 4 feet 

 8 inches to 5 feet 8 ; according to Kinloch a very large bear would 

 measure about 7 feet from snout to tail, the latter being only two 

 or three inches long; whilst Adams says the largest he measured, 

 out of hundreds, was 7 feet 6 inches long, and 3 feet 5 inches high. 

 A moderate-sized skull is 11*7 inches long in basal length, and 

 7*25 broad across the zygomata. The largest skull in the Calcutta 

 Museum measures 12-5 iuches by 8-8, a large European skull 

 13 by 9-5. 



Distribution. Throughout the greater portion of the Palacarctic 

 region. The brown bear inhabits the Himalaya from Afghanistan 

 as far east as Kepal, at all events, and is, or was, common in 

 Kashmir and many parts of the N.W. Himalaya, but it does not 

 occur in Ladak, Sum, Zanskar, or any of the districts north of the 

 main range, though common further west in Astor and Gilgit. 

 U. jiruinosus is found in the neighbourhood of Lhassa. 



Sytwm/iny. I can find no sufficient reason for distinguishing 

 U. isaheiUnus from U. arctus. Both vary in colour, and are often 

 of the same tint, the Himalayan form, like the Syrian, being as a 

 rule paler than the European, perhaps because the two Asiatic 

 varieties inhabit more open ground. The difi^erence in size does 

 not appear sufficiently great or constant to justify distinction. 



Habits. In summer the Himalayan brown bear keeps to high 

 elevations, living chiefly on the grass slopes above the forests, close 

 to the snow ; in autumn and spring he is found at lower levels, 

 frequently entering the forests, and descending to the neighbour- 

 hood of villages to feed on fruit or grain. In w inter these bears 

 reti'eat to caves, and hybernate or remain in a torpid condition 

 until spring. Their winter retreats are usually, at that season, 

 buried beneath the snow. They reappear about Mai'ch or April, 

 and in those months and INlay may be found on open spots on the 

 hill-side, where the snow has melted, feeding on the j^oung sprouts 



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