The Status and Management of Bear Resources in China

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The status and management of bear resources in China

There are three species of bears in China, brown bear (Ursus arctos), black bear (Selenarctos thibetanus)and sun bear (Helarctos malayanus). From 1991 to 1994, the investigation of bears organized by CWCA (China wildlifeConservation Association) was conducted in 22 provinces of China The rcsults showed that the distribution area of bearshad been changed from the continuous distribution to fragmentary. The distribution areas of threc species were 1imited to thearea of 2591427 km2, and the total number of population was reduced to 61686. The distribution area of black bear was625086 km2, the population size was 46528, average density was 0. 0714/km2 The distribution area of brown bear was1956691 km2, the population size was 14783, average density was 0. 0076/km2 The distribution area of sun bear was 9650km2; the population size was trom 350 to 400. There are 396 bear farms in China and the 6688 bears are being reared onthese bear farms 94.4% of them is black bears (3612), 4. 5% of them is brown bears (300); 1. 1 % of them is sun bears (10).The management of bears in China was discussed in this paper.