European brown bear

European brown bear
	European brown bear
Systematics
Order :	Predators (Carnivora)
Subordination :	Canine (Caniformia)
Family :	Bears (Ursidae)
Genre :	Ursus
Type :	Brown bear ( Ursus arctos )
Subspecies :	European brown bear
Scientific name
	Ursus arctos arctos
	Linnaeus , 1758

Brown bear skull

European brown bear bathing

The European brown bear or Eurasian brown bear ( Ursus arctos arctos ) is a subspecies of the brown bear ( Ursus arctos ) from the bear family (Ursidae). It is the nominate form of the species.

Taxonomy and characteristics

Basics

The division of the species Ursus arctos , the brown bear, into subspecies is a difficult problem on which there is no scientific consensus. A total of 232 subspecies or even separate species have been described for the species (in the modern sense), plus 39 names for extinct subspecies. Traditionally, the subspecies were delimited morphologically, the characteristics used were body size, coat and claw color and various dimensions of the bone structure, almost exclusively of the skull. These adaptations are problematic because of the necessarily limited collection material in zoological museums and the high level of individual modification within the species. It is particularly uncertain which, and how many, subspecies occur in northern Asia, on which the eastern border of the distribution of the European brown bear depends critically.

More recently, these analyzes have been supplemented by numerous genetic studies. The problem with these is that the brown bear is a young species that separated from its sister species , the polar bear , only a few ten to one hundred thousand years ago , and that modern populations only repopulated their present area from several refuges after the Ice Age to have. Therefore the genetic differences are quite small. On the one hand, the mitochondrial DNA , the independent genetic material of the mitochondria , is analyzed . The former is only inherited by the mother in mammals due to the lack of the latter in sperm. On the other hand, so-called microsatellites are being examined, which are short (non-coding) sequence sections repeated in the genome, which are also the basis for the technique of genetic fingerprinting in humans.

The problem is that the morphological and genetic results show no agreement. The brown bears of Europe belong to two separate genetic lines. The eastern of these lines is then spread from southern Europe over almost all of Asia to Alaska and Canada in North America. As a result of these results, many scientists outside of North America now completely dispense with differentiating the subspecies. However, this is seen as problematic by many practitioners, especially conservationists, since numerous small, possibly morphologically distinguishable local populations that are threatened with extinction no longer have a scientific name.

Morphological subspecies

There is also no agreement on the number and delimitation of the subspecies of Eurasia according to morphological characteristics. The following presentation is essentially based on the processing by Heptner et al. for the former Soviet Union.

According to this view, Ursus arctos arctos is a medium-sized brown bear. It reaches a maximum weight of 320 to 350 kilograms. The coat color is generally rather dark, it varies from dark black-brown with rust-gray reflections, especially in the west of the distribution, to light-brown-straw colors with a dark red-brown undercoat, mainly in the eastern sections. Both types of fur merge seamlessly in the region in between. The color of the legs is always darker than that of the trunk, in light-colored animals the muzzle is also darker. There may be a narrow and incomplete neck ring drawing.

The subspecies would be distributed throughout Europe, European Russia, the Urals and Western Siberia, to the east, without a clear border, for example to the Yenisei and Altai . The northern limit of distribution is the northern limit of the taiga to the tundra . To the east, in eastern Siberia, the subspecies Ursus arctos yeniseensis Ognev, 1924, would be a transitional form to the East Asian subspecies, but which is not recognized as independent by most other taxonomists. In most of the more recent works it is used in the nominate form ; H. the Eurasian brown bear. It includes approximately 38,000 individuals. To the east would be the Kamchatka brown bear Ursus arctos piscator Pucheran, 1855 ( synonym beringianus ), a significantly larger subspecies that inhabits the coastal regions and most of the offshore islands along the Bering Strait (around 9,000 individuals), and adjoining this to the south Ussuri brown bear Ursus arctos lasiotus Gray, 1867, who would colonize the Ussuri , Sakhalin and Kuril regions . Sometimes the population on the Ussuri is still separated as a separate subspecies.

Since historical time, the brown bears of the Caucasus and the Central Asian mountains were separated from the distribution of the Eurasian brown bear by a distribution gap, but this probably goes back to human influence. As a result, the populations widespread there no longer have any contact with the Eurasian brown bear. Heptner et al. locate here the Caucasian brown bear Ursus arctos meridionalis Middendorff, 1851 in the Caucasus, a very controversial subspecies, as other researchers want to differentiate up to four subspecies here, while others want to differentiate all animals, as well as those of the further eastern regions, the Syrian brown bear Ursus arctos syriacus Hemprich et Ehrenberg, 1828, strike. To the east of this would be the distribution area of the isabel bear (also called Tien Shan brown bear or Himalayan brown bear), Ursus arctos isabellinus Horsfield, 1826.

Genetically definable populations

The brown bear is a phylogenomically very well studied species. This is mainly because conservationists who were planning projects to reintroduce or support small local populations wanted to know whether they were not accidentally releasing the wrong brown bears in their area. The advantage of genetic methods over morphological methods is that samples from hair, faeces or excavated subfossil remains can be analyzed. This means that the data base for the processing is broader.

Ursus arctos arctos: estimated distribution area in Europe

The results of the investigations showed that the European brown bears belong to two very separate genetic lines. One of them (" Klade I") includes the bears of Western Europe, including those of Spain and the Pyrenees, Italy, the northwestern Balkans and parts of Romania and western Scandinavia (also subfossil remains of bears from North Africa and the Levant). The other ("Klade IIIa") includes the bears of Eastern Europe, the Balkans, northern Scandinavia, most of the Middle East, almost all of northern Asia and the north-westernmost North America (especially western Alaska). The bears of clade IIIa are more closely related to the bears of northern Canada and eastern Alaska (clade IIIb) than to those of western Europe. These results are mainly based on the analysis of the mtDNA, i. H. the female, maternal lineage. If core genes (inherited in both sexes) are also included in the analysis, it turns out that there is definitely a gene flow between the different populations , but that this is mainly based on the paternal line. This is probably due to the fact that the brown bear males are considerably more vague than the females and cover greater distances. In any case, the conventional subspecies are not reproducible according to the genetic data. The western and eastern lines are only in contact with each other in two regions. While they actually occur sympatric in Romania , in Scandinavia both populations are at least 130 kilometers apart in their distribution.

According to estimates using the molecular clock method , the bears of clade I and IIIa separated about 850,000 years ago. The western line is divided into two groups, one in Spain, France and the south of Scandinavia, one in Italy, the western Balkans and Romania. This is associated with the repopulation from two Ice Age refuges (Iberian and Italian Peninsula). For the eastern line there is speculation about a refuge on the Balkan Peninsula, but a refuge much further east, in Northeast Asia, also appears possible. The western line comprises only about 2,500 to 3,000 live animals, while the population of the eastern line is still in the hundreds of thousands.

European brown bear populations

The brown bear, which used to be spread over almost all of Europe, is now split into a few populations separated from one another by large unpopulated areas, which generally do not allow any exchange of individuals and thus no genetic contact with one another. The following population estimates are essentially based on data from the IUCN / SSC Bear Specialist Group (Rauer et al. 1999)

Brown bear cub in the polar zoo of the municipality of Bardu in Fylke Troms in Northern Norway

Cantabrian Mountains, Northern Spain: up to 140, e.g. Sometimes named as a separate subspecies Cantabrian brown bear ( Ursus arctos pyrenaicus ).
Pyrenees: approx. 10
Southern Scandinavia: approx. 150 to 200
Abruzzo, Central Italy: about 70 to 100, e.g. T. named as a separate subspecies Martian brown bear ( Ursus arctos marsicanus ).
Northern Italy / Austria (Alps): around 15 to 30
Western Balkans: around 550 to 800
Carpathian Mountains: around 6600 in Romania, with marginal occurrences to Poland: around 70
Mountains in Bulgaria: approx. 500 and northern Greece: a good 100
European Russia west of the Urals: around 26,000 to 27,000, with marginal occurrences in Scandinavia (Finland around 430 to 600)

Protective measures

Brown bear in an outdoor enclosure in the Bavarian Forest National Park

The small populations are under varying degrees of legal protection in many countries. Internationally, the populations of Asia are listed in Appendix I (total trade ban), the rest in Appendix II (restricted trade). In some countries this species enjoys a year-round or several months closed season . In addition, multi-level management plans are being implemented to protect bears and farm animals. In other countries there is little or no legal protection for this subspecies. In the European Species Protection Ordinance, it is listed in Appendix I (total trade ban) and Appendix II (restricted trade), depending on the population. Restricted hunting is permitted in the eastern distribution area (Russia).

Furthermore, this subspecies is kept in many zoos across Europe. While many animals are subspecies hybrids, otherwise mainly European brown bears ( Ursus arctos arctos ) are kept. Syrian brown bears ( Ursus arctos syriacus ) and Kamchatka bears ( Ursus arctos beringianus ) are also represented in some zoological institutions.

There are also several bear protection facilities that have made it their business to keep former dancing , circus and zoo bears in a species-appropriate manner .

For reasons of species protection, few bears were released in the French Massif Central (where they died out in 1990, origin: Pyrenees) and in the Italian and Austrian Alps (origin: Slovenia). Some abandoned bears fell victim to poaching by local hunters.

Individual evidence

↑ ^a ^b A.C. Kitchener (2000): Taxonomic issues in bears: impacts on conservation in zoos and the wild, and gaps in current knowledge. International Zoo Yearbook 44: 33-46. doi: 10.1111 / j.1748-1090.2009.00087.x
↑ Vladimir Georgiewitsch Heptner, NP Naumov, PB Yurgenson, AA Sludskii, AF Chirkova, AG Bannikov: Mammals of the Soviet Union. Volume II, Part la Sirenia and Carnivora (Sea Cows; Wolves and Bears). Original edition: Mlekopitaiuschie Sovetskogo Soiuza. Vysshaya Shkola Publishers, Moscow, 1967. translated by Bolos Abdul Malek Botros, Hamed Tantawi, Hosni Ibrahim Youssef, Ali Abdul Moneim Moussa. Published for the Smithsonian Institution Libraries by Amerind Publishing Co. Pvt. Ltd., New Delhi, 1998. download
↑ ^a ^b ^c Igor E. Chestin, Yuliy P. Gubar, Vladimir E. Sokolov, Vladimir S. Lobachev (1992): The brown bear (Ursus arctos L.) in the USSR: numbers, hunting and systematics. Annales Zoologici Fennici 29 (2): 57-68.
↑ Jennifer A. Leonard, Robert K. Wayne, Alan Cooper (2000): Population genetics of Ice Age brown bears. PNAS Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences USA 97 (4): 1651-1654. doi: 10.1073 / pnas.040453097
↑ Sébastien Calvignac, Sandrine Hughes, Catherine Hänni (2009): Genetic diversity of endangered brown bear (Ursus arctos) populations at the crossroads of Europe, Asia and Africa. Diversity and Distributions (2009): 1-9.
↑ Jon E. Swenson, Pierre Taberlet, Eva Bellemain (2011): Genetics and conservation of European brown bears Ursus arctos. Mammal Review 41 (2): 87-98.
↑ Rauer, G., Spassov, N., Spiridonov, G., Nyholm, ES, Nyholm, K.-E., Camarra, J.-J., Mertzanis, G., Boscagli, G., Osti, F. , Sorensen, OJ, Swenson, JE, Kvam, T., Frackowiak, W., Gula, R., Perzanowski, K., Ionescu, O., Hell, P., Find'O, S., Clevenger, AP, Purroy, FJ, Cienfuegos, JN, Quesada, CN, Sandegren, F., Bjarvall, A., Franzén, R., Söderberg, A., Wabakken, P., Huber, D .: Brown Bear Conservation Action Plan for Europe ( Ursus arctos). In: Servheen, C., Herrero, S., and Peyton, B. (Editors). Bears. Status Survey and Conservation Action Plan: 55-122. IUCN, Gland, Switzerland and Cambridge, UK, 1998. ISBN 2-8317-0462-6
↑ www.Zootierliste.de. Retrieved July 19, 2020 .
↑ Joseph D. Clarck, Djuro Huber, Christopher Servheen (2002): Bear reintroductions - lessons and challenges. Ursus 13: 335-345.