Himalayan brown bears

• The J&K Wildlife Department has recorded its first ever sighting of a group of eight Himalayan brown bears in Kargil’s Drass Sector.
• The sighting is considered as rare record as their natural habitats in Kargil’s Drass Sector were damaged during the 1999 war due to heavy artillery shelling for almost three months

About Himalayan Brown Bears

• Himalayan Brown Bears are also known as the Himalayan red bear, Isabelline bear or Dzu-The.
• Himalayan Brown Bears is a subspecies of the brown bear.
• These bears are the largest mammal in the Himalayan region, males reach up to 2.2 m long while females are a little smaller. They are omnivorous and hibernate in a den during the winter.
• In India, these are found in 23 protected areas of the northern states of Jammu and Kashmir, Himachal Pradesh, and Uttaranchal. In J&K, they are found in Suru, Zanskar, Drass and Kargil in the Ladakh region. These bears also found in northern Afghanistan, northern Pakistan, Nepal and Tibet.
• These are categorized as critically endangered in IUCN list.

About IUCN

• The International Union for Conservation of Nature and Natural Resources (IUCN) is an international organization set up to protect plants, animals and habitats.
• It was first called the "World Conservation Union."
• Established in : 1948,
• Head office: Gland, Switzerland.
• IUCN's purpose is to influence, encourage and assist countries around the world to conserve the quality and diversity of nature. It also has to make sure that any use of natural resources is fair and sustainable without harming the earth

By: Vishal