African Bear 607 



The African Bear (Ursus arctus crowtheri) 



In the earlier decades of this century, when the French invasion of 

 Algeria had led to the penetration by European travellers of the remoter 

 parts of Algeria and Morocco, before, at the same time, the presence of 

 Europeans in the country had led to the gradual extinction of big game, 

 reports began to be heard here and there of the existence of a bear in the 

 mountains of the Atlas range. Ordinarily, the source of the rumour was 

 Arab information. Arab hunters repeatedly asserted the existence of a bear in 

 the country, but as the Arab word for bear (£; =debb) is equally applied in 

 parts of North Africa to the hyaena, it is possible that travellers who collected 

 these stories were under a mistake when they attributed the term to mean 

 the North African bear. But in 1 841 a Mr. Crowther, on his way to 

 India, appears to have stopped at Gibraltar and thence crossed over to Africa, 

 stopping at Tetwan and other places in the north of Morocco. Here he 

 seems to have actually seen a dead specimen, an adult female. From his 

 experiences and the information he collected, the following is the description 

 of this supposed North African bear, which has been called tentatively Ursus 

 arctus crowtheri. Its size is a little inferior to that of the American black 

 bear, but more robustly formed. The face is much shorter and broader, 

 and both toes and claws are remarkably short for a bear, the claws, how- 

 ever, being very stout. The hair is black, or brownish-black, and shaggy, 

 about 4 or 5 inches long ; but on the under parts of an orange-rufous 

 colour. The muzzle is black. The individual seen by Mr. Crowther 

 was killed at the foot of the Tetwan mountains, about 25 miles 

 from the Atlas range. It was considered, even in 1841, a very rare species 

 in that part, and fed on roots, acorns, and fruits. It was said not to be 

 able to climb with facility, and to be very distinct and different in appearance 

 from any other bear. Mr. Crowther seems to have attempted to preserve 

 the skin, but did not succeed in doing so. He resumed his journey to 



