The Gobi bear (''Ursus arctos gobiensis''), known in Mongolian as the ''Mazaalai'' (), is a

subspecies In biological classification, subspecies is a rank below species, used for populations that live in different areas and vary in size, shape, or other physical characteristics (morphology), but that can successfully interbreed. Not all species ...

of the

brown bear The brown bear (''Ursus arctos'') is a large bear species found across Eurasia and North America. In North America, the populations of brown bears are called grizzly bears, while the subspecies that inhabits the Kodiak Islands of Alaska is kno ...

(''Ursus arctos'') that is found in the

Gobi Desert The Gobi Desert (Chinese: 戈壁 (沙漠), Mongolian: Говь (ᠭᠣᠪᠢ)) () is a large desert or brushland region in East Asia, and is the sixth largest desert in the world. Geography The Gobi measures from southwest to northeast an ...

Mongolia Mongolia; Mongolian script: , , ; lit. "Mongol Nation" or "State of Mongolia" () is a landlocked country in East Asia, bordered by Russia to the north and China to the south. It covers an area of , with a population of just 3.3 million, ...

. It is listed as critically endangered by the Mongolian Redbook of Endangered Species and by IUCN standards. Recent surveys documented just 51 bears in 2022, a slight increase from an estimate of 40 bears in 2017. Gobi bears are separated by enough distance from other brown bear populations to achieve reproductive isolation. In 1959, hunting of the animal was prohibited in order to preserve the dying subspecies.

Threats

The Gobi bear population is restricted to 23,600 km2 in areas that are in close proximity to water sources (Reynolds et al. 2010, Luvsamjamba et al. 2016), and the population is isolated from other populations by inhospitable low elevation deserts, pastoral activities, and human settlements.

Conservation

A conservation measure for the Gobi Bear has been in place since 1985, which is a supplemental feeding program, pellets containing wheat (''Triticum aestivum''), corn (Z''ea mays''), carrots (''Daucus carota sativus''), and turnips (''Brassica rapa'') are provided in spring and autumn at feeders located near selected waterholes throughout the GGSPA A.

Behavior and Ecology

Gobi bears mainly eat roots, berries, and other plants, sometimes rodents; there is no evidence that they prey on large mammals. The diet of a Gobi Bear is only about 8% animal protein. Small compared to other brown bear subspecies, adult males weigh about and females about . Gobi bears are the only bears that have evolved and adapted to living in such extreme hot desert climates.

Genetic diversity

Gobi bears have a very low genetic diversity, among the lowest ever observed in any subspecies of brown bear. The brown bear in the Gobi desert of southwestern Mongolia (referred to as the Gobi bear) is one of the smallest and most isolated brown bear populations in the world.Levels of genetic diversity similar to the Gobi bears have been reported only in a small population of brown bears in the Pyrenees Mountains on the border of Spain and France. The Gobi bear is the only brown bear population adapted to living in an extreme desert environment, and its distribution has decreased by 60% since the 1970s.The low genetic diversity is the result of Gobi bears having a highly skewed sex ratio of males to females. There are about 21 males to 8 females. This the main cause of such low reproduction and population. In addition, research has shown there is a low number of alleles per locus in their DNA. This means that Gobi bear DNA is fragile and therefore affects their reproduction.

Research

Historically, based on morphology, the Gobi brown bear has, sometimes, been classified as being in same subspecies as the

Tibetan blue bear The Tibetan bear (''Ursus arctos pruinosus'') or Tibetan blue bear is a subspecies of the brown bear (''Ursus arctos'') in the eastern Tibetan Plateau. One of the rarest subspecies of bear in the world, the blue bear is rarely sighted in the ...

. However, recent phylogenetic analysis has shown that although the Gobi bear and Himalayan brown bear have a shared ancestry, both bear populations are genetically isolated. As of 2022, there are a reported 51 bears in the wild. The Gobi bears used to populate about 23,619 kilometers of land in Southwestern Mongolia. This number has decreased by nearly sixty percent due to the scarcity of food and water. They eat berries, vegetation, insects and occasionally rodents.

References

Sources

* * * *Tumendemberel, Odbayar (2020). "Evolutionary history, demographics, and conservation of brown bears (Ursus arctos): filling the knowledge gap in Central Asia". Ph.D. dissertation. University of South-Eastern Norway.