The status and conservation of the Asiatic black bear in Nikshahr County Baluchistan District of Iran

Faraham Ahmadzadeh, Homan Liaghati, Bahram Hassanzadeh Kiabi, Ahmad Reza Mehrabian, Asghar Abdoli & Hossein Mostafavi (2008) Journal of Natural History, 42:35-36, 2379-2387

Of the eight species of bears in the world, two occur in Iran: the brown bear (Ursus arctos Linnaeus, 1758) and the Asiatic black bear (Ursus thibetanus Cuvier, 1823) (Harrington 1977; Ziaie 1996; Firouz 2000). The Asiatic black bear is distributed throughout much of southern and eastern Asia, extending through Pakistan and Afghanistan westward to the Baluchistan district of Iran and through the Himalayas, Southeast Asia, and through parts of China, Korea, Russia, Japan and Taiwan (Sathyakumar 2001; Garshelis and Steinmetz 2007). In Servheen’s review of the status and conservation of bears of the world (Servheen 1990), there is little information on the Asiatic black bear in the westernmost part of its distribution in Iran, Afghanistan and Pakistan. The review mentions that a small isolated population in Baluchistan district, which has been described as a subspecies (Ursus thibetanus gedrosianus), may remain. The ‘‘Baluchistan’’ subspecies was named by Blanford in 1877 (Etemad 1984) and Erdbrink (1953) noted that this subspecies might be valid given the long isolation of the region. The Asiatic black bear was thought to have become extinct in southeastern Iran in the late 1960s, but was rediscovered in 1973 (Gutleb and Ziaie 1999).

This bear’s status varies from threatened to common in different parts of the world. The Baluchistan subspecies was previously categorized as Critically Endangered B1+2abc, C2A (Iran, Pakistan) in the IUCN Red list (although the 2008 IUCN red list no longer categorizes subspecies). The species is in Appendix I of CITES (CITES 2006; IUCN 2007). In Iran, it is protected by the wildlife conservation laws, which prohibit killing but have no impact on habitat. Its habitats have become fragmented as a result of heavy human pressure in the last 20–30 years combined with continuous severe drought throughout its distribution in Iran in the last 10 years. In Iran, Pakistan and Afghanistan, this species is facing local extermination in many areas (Servheen 1990; Zehzad et al. 1999).

Nikshahr County in the Baluchistan district is thought to be the last remaining area of Iran where this species has a chance for continued survival. However, the present status of the bear in Nikshahr County is completely unknown. This study used field surveys and interviews with local people to evaluate the status of the Asiatic black bear in Nikshahr County, Baluchistan, Iran.