Asiatic black bear in Pakistan: a comprehensive review and conservation indications

The Asiatic black bear (Ursus thibetanus) is considered as globally vulnerable, and its distribution in Pakistan has drastically decreased. The current knowledge around its biology and ecology is still poor. To provide crucial management and conservation recommendations for this threatened bear in Pakistan and in other areas in the world, we examined all the literature published from 1977 to 2024 on the two subspecies of U. thibetanus living in Pakistan, i.e., the Baluchistan black bear (U. thibetanus gedrosianus) and Himalayan black bear (U. thibetanus laniger). We found 59 papers on the Asiatic black bear, with the majority of the studies focusing on the bears’ existence, distribution, and human-bear conflicts, while only one study used a genetic approach. Questionnaire/interview surveys emerged as the most used method, followed by sign surveys, camera trapping, and visual observations. Most of the publications were focused on the Himalayan black bear in Azad Jammu and Kashmir and the Mansehra district (northern Pakistan), while few studies have been conducted in Balochistan since 1977 for the subspecies Baluchistan black bear. This underscores a significant geographic gap in research, particularly in the southern Pakistan regions that host the threatened Baluchistan black bear. To address these gaps and improve conservation efforts, we recommend increasing applied research both inside and outside protected areas and employing updated methodologies like camera trapping, remote sensing, ecological modelling and genetic analysis. It is imperative to conduct studies across the entire distribution range, especially in understudied areas like southern Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and Balochistan, to ensure the long-term conservation of the Asiatic black bear across its entire distribution.