IN CAPTIVITY IN LOWER BENGAL. 99 



Hab. — The brown bear has a wide range of distribution, being met 

 with throughout the greater portion of the Palsearctic region. In Europe 

 it is found in Norway, Sweden, Eussia, Siberia, Poland, the Pyrenees, 

 and Northern Europe generally; in temperate Asia it is found in 

 Northern Siberia, Kamtschatka, Amurland, and the Himalayas. The 

 Himalayan form extends from Afghanistan as far east as Nepal, and is 

 common in the Astor Valley and the Grilgit district. Specimens have 

 been obtained from Kashmir and Kumaon. 



Length or life in captivity. 



A pair of the European variety have been living since December 

 1887, and a pair of Himalayan brown bears from March 1884 ; the former 

 lived for a number of years in the menagerie of the late King of Oudh 

 before their arrival here. 



Treatment in health. 



Housing. — Except during the few months of winter, the climate of 

 Bengal is generally uncongenial to these animals, and much depends, 

 therefore, upon the kind of accommodation assigned to them. The 

 house must be well protected from the sun, and be at the same time 

 cool and airy ; besides a copious supply of pure drinking water, there 

 must be a bath into which it may be necessary to put a quantity of ice 

 during the warmest days of summer : a grotto or dark chamber, with a 

 platform for the animals to sleep upon, is also necessary. Like most other 

 animals, bears are very susceptible to damp, which should be avoided as 

 much as possible, so that, where the houses are low, a wooden platform, 

 in addition to that inside their sleeping chamber, should be given them 

 in the outer den also. In the construction of the house wood should be 

 avoided as much as possible, as most bears are addicted to gnawing it ; 

 the wooden posts, when used should be lined with iron or zinc. These 

 bears are powerful animals and some of them are mischievous also, so 

 that accidents have sometimes happened by trusting to their previous 

 good conduct and neglecting to take extra precautions in securing them : 

 they have been known to bend three-quarters of an inch thick wrought- 

 iron rods with ease where the cross bars of iron strengthening them were 

 from 2 feet 6 inces to 3 feet apart. 



Food. — May be fed with boiled rice, sugar, vegetables, fruits, eggs, 

 bread, biscuits and milk ; meat is occasionally given them, but every 

 individual has not the same relish for it. Ordinarily boiled rice, sugar, 

 a little milk and some vegetables are given them. One of the female 

 brown bears is a great epicure, refusing to touch any food unless boiled 

 eggs form a large proportion of it. 



Transport. — Eor the reasons stated under "housing" an iron 

 cage is indispensable when it is required to transport one of these 

 animals. Not that they have never been conveyed in a wooden cage, 

 but it is on the whole safer to have an iron one ; the same style of cage 

 as has been recommended for the transport of a lion or a tiger will also 

 do well for a bear, but for the latter the top and bottom of the cage 

 should also be made of iron gratings. 



