Gobi bear

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.[5]

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 (Zea 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.[7]

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.[7] Small compared to other brown bear subspecies, adult males weigh about 96.0–138.0 kg (211.6–304.2 lb) and females about 51.0–78.0 kg (112.4–172.0 lb).[6] Gobi bears are the only bears that have evolved and adapted to living in such extreme hot desert climates.[5]

Gobi bears have a very low genetic diversity,[4][8] 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.[5]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.[5]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.[5]

Historically, based on morphology, the Gobi brown bear has, sometimes, been classified as being in the same subspecies as the Tibetan blue bear. However, recent phylogenetic analysis has shown that although the Gobi bear and Himalayan brown bear[9] have a shared ancestry, both bear populations are genetically isolated.[8]

Between 2008 and 2018, 51 bears were documented; the last population estimate was 31, and the population trend is stable. The Gobi bears populated about 23,619 kilometers of land in Southwestern Mongolia.[5] This number has decreased nearly sixty percent due to scarcity of food and water. They eat berries, vegetation, insects, and occasionally rodents.[10]

• Bear

• Chadwick, Douglas (2017). Tracking Gobi Grizzlies: Surviving Beyond the Back of Beyond. Joe Riis and Douglas Chadwick (photography). Ventura, Cal.: Patagonia Books. ISBN 9781938340628. OCLC 984164885. Preview.