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Massive habitat decline for Himalayan Brown Bear by 2050
Why is it in News?
- The study carried out in the western Himalayas by scientists of Zoological Survey of India, predicted a massive decline of about 73% of the bear’s habitat by the year 2050.
Details:
- Study:
(1) These losses in habitat will result in loss of habitat from 13 protected areas (PAs),
(2) Eight of them will become completely uninhabitable by the year 2050.
(3) It will be followed by loss of connectivity in the majority of PAs.
- Why Himalayan Brown Bear study?
(1) ZSI has taken the Himalayan brown bear as an example because it is a top carnivore of the high-altitude Himalayan region.
(2) The elevation gradient in which the brown bear is distributed is most vulnerable to global warming.
- Himalayan brown bear:
(1) It is one of the largest carnivores in the highlands of Himalayas.
(2) It occupies the higher reaches of the Himalayas in remote, mountainous areas of Pakistan and India, in small and isolated populations.
(3) It is extremely rare in many of its ranges.
(4) It is the largest mammal in the region, males reaching up to 2.2 m (7 ft) long while females are a little smaller.
(5) While the brown bear as a species is classified as Least Concern by the IUCN, this subspecies is highly endangered.
(6) It is ‘Endangered’ in the Himalayas and ‘Critically Endangered’ in Hindu Kush.