22 
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—from 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 hie, 
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 
