Rare Tibetan brown bear sighted in Sikkim, pics shared on social media

Pictures of a rare Tibetan brown bear - the eastern Himalayan subspecies of brown bear -spotted for the first time in the high altitude areas of North Sikkim have been making rounds on social media. The rare animal was documented with the joint effort of the Sikkim Forest Department and the World Wildlife Fund, according to a  post shared on X by Indian Forest Service (IFS) Parveen Kaswan.

You are seeing first ever picture of rare Tibetan Brown Bear from #India. With this one more sub-species added to the Indian #biodiversity. This rare animal is documented in higher reaches of Sikkim with the joint effort of #Sikkim FD and WWF. So much India yet to be explored. pic.twitter.com/NvMohtXxjT

— Parveen Kaswan, IFS (@ParveenKaswan) January 15, 2024

“You are seeing first ever picture of rare Tibetan Brown Bear from #India. With this one more sub-species added to the Indian #biodiversity. This rare animal is documented in higher reaches of Sikkim with the joint effort of FD and WWF. So much India yet to be explored,” Kaswan wrote on X along with sharing the pics of the animal. “Now we have 5 bears found in India. - Himalayan black bear - Himalayan Brown Bear - Sloth Bear - Sun bear - Tibetan Brown Bear,” he wrote in another post. Camera traps captured the bear (scientific name: Ursus arctos pruinosus) with its characteristic yellowish scarf-like collar that broadens from the shoulders to the chest in Mangan district last month, reported PTI. This rare bear is very different from the more commonly found Himalayan black bear in terms of its appearance, habitat and behaviour, the report quoted officials as saying. The omnivore lives in high-altitude alpine forests, meadows and steppe above 4000 m and feeds on marmots and alpine vegetation. “The discovery of a rare Tibetan brown bear marks a significant moment for biodiversity in the region and underscores the importance of preserving and protecting the state’s precious wildlife,” PTI quoted an official as saying. The Tibetan brown bear, also known as the Tibetan blue bear, is one of the rarest subspecies of bears in the world, and is rarely sighted in the wild. Only a few were sighted from Nepal, Bhutan and the Tibetan plateau. With assistance from Lachen Dzumsa, a traditional socio-political institution of North Sikkim, a forest and wildlife department team set up camera traps in high altitudes of Mangan district and captured this elusive bear. With inputs from agencies