Bear in Blue

Bears are black or brown and in the Arctic it is pure white. But a wild blue bear has been found in the high altitude of Tibet. Not only its colour is blue but also it has been found after a gap of 70 years. The bear was captured by an infrared camera in Beishan Forest recently. It has an iconic big white collar. The species is now under state protection.

Beishan Forest is where the Tibetan blue bear historically lived, but the bear hasn’t been seen in recent decades. Its appearance proves that the bear can forage in this place.

Tibetan bear or Tibetan blue bear (Ursus arctos pruinosus) is a subspecies of the brown bear (Ursus arctos) found in the eastern Tibetan Plateau. It is also known as the Himalayan blue bear, Himalayan snow bear, Tibetan brown bear, or the horse bear. In Tibetan, it is known as Dom gyamuk.

One of the rarest subspecies of bear in the world, the blue bear is seldom sighted in the wild. The blue bear was once known in the West only through a small number of fur and bone samples.

It is possible that the occasional specimen might be observed traveling through high mountain peaks during times of reduced food supply, or in search of a mate. However, the limited information available about the habits and range of the blue bear makes such speculation difficult to confirm.

The exact conservation status of the blue bear is unknown, due to limited information. It is also listed in the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species (CITES) as a protected species. It is threatened by the use of bear bile in traditional Chinese medicine and habitat encroachment.

The blue bear is notable for having been suggested as one possible inspiration for the yeti. A 1960 expedition to search for evidence of the yeti, led by Sir Edmund Hillary, returned with two scraps of fur that had been identified by locals as ‘yeti fur’ that were later scientifically identified as being portions of the pelt of a blue bear.

Source: Himalayan News Chronicle