^w 



30 



Mammals of Burma. 



[STo. 1, 



Nearly allied is the My dam meliceps, Horsfield, of the higher mountains 

 of the Malayan peninsula, Sumatra, and Java, which is likely also to inhabit 

 those of the Tenasserim provinces. M. leptorhynchus* A. M. -Edwards, is 

 described from N". China. 



Fam. XJrsid83. 



Bears. 



*64. Helaectos malayanus (J. 43). 



TJrsus malayanus, Raffles, F. Cuv. Mamm. Lithog. iii. t. 58. Wet-woon^ Arakan. 



The Sun Bear. This is the only Bear which inhabits British Burma, 

 where it is diffused from Arakan to Mergui, and thence southward through- 

 out the Malayan peninsula, Sumatra, and Borneo ; the Bornean race, U. eury- 

 spilus, Horsfield,f differing but slightly. How far northward of Arakan its 

 range of distribution may extend, I am unaware ; but Ursus tihetanus, the 

 common Black Bear of the forest region of the Himalaya, is the only Bear as 

 yet determined from the hill ranges bordering on Assam, and this I believe to 

 be the U. malayanus apud Walker ; J the same animal occurring likewise in 

 S. China, and in the islands of Hainan (?) and Formosa. § In all probability 

 the IT. malayanus is generally diffused over the great Indo-Chinese peninsula, 

 where it especially inhabits the precipitous limestone mountains, and is there- 

 fore difficult of access, from the tangled vegetation of the places to which it 

 resorts. When brought up tame, it is an animal of gentle disposition, which 

 will follow people about like a dog. I have seen one that suffered itself to be 

 fondled by little children. " On one occasion/' writes Mason, while " sleep- 

 ing in a Karen field that had been recently harvested, I was disturbed all night 

 by a number of them digging up the roots of the sugar-cane that had been left 

 in the field. They will occasionally attack man when alone, On descend- 

 ing the Tenasserim a few years ago on rafts, the foremost raft passed over a 

 rapid, and made short a turn into a little cove below, when a Bear from the 

 shore made a plunge at the raft, and threw the two Karens on it into the 

 water. At this moment the other boats came in sight, and the Bear retreated. 

 On another occasion I met with a Burman and a Bear that he had just shot, and 

 the Burman assured me that he had shot the Bear in the very act of running 

 upon him. And last year," continues Mason, "a Karen of my acquaintance 

 in Tonghoo was attacked by one, overcome, and left by the Bear for dead. 



* Ann. Sci. Nat. ser. v. torn. viii. p. 374, and Ann. M. N. H. (4), t. ii. p. 230. 

 .f Zool. Journ. vol. i. pi. 7. 

 t Calc. Journ. N. H. iii. p. 265. § P. Z. S. 1870, pp. 230, 621. 



