Martian brown bear
| Martian brown bear | ||||||||||||
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Martian brown bear |
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| Ursus arctos marsicanus | ||||||||||||
| Altobello , 1921 |
The Martian brown bear ( Ursus arctos marsicanus ) is a highly endangered subspecies of the brown bear ( Ursus arctos ) and is now only found in and around the Abruzzo, Latium and Molise National Park in the Apennines . It is currently being discussed whether it should continue to be viewed as a separate subspecies.
description
The males reach a weight of up to 115 kg at a standing height of 185 cm, the females stay smaller and lighter. They are among the largest land predators in Italy. The bears are very shy and are often only active during the night. They are mostly loners and live in their own territories of up to 200 km². The bears are known to move to residential areas while foraging, making them unpopular with the population. For the winter, the bears dig burrows or retreat into rock caves. As is usual with the bears, they break down their fat reserves that they ate up during the summer and autumn.
nutrition
Up to 90% of the food is plant-based, for example roots, tubers, fruits and berries. This diet is low in nutrients, so the bear has to consume a large amount of it. Like all bears, the Martian bear is omnivorous , so it also hunts smaller animals and feeds on the carcasses of larger animals.
Dissemination, Threat, and Protection
The Martian brown bear forms a small allopatric population in the Abruzzo, Latium and Molise National Park and the neighboring Monti Sibillini , Gran Sasso and Monti della Laga , Majella and the Sirente-Velino and Monti Simbruini regional parks . The distribution area has been significantly restricted within the last 200 years and today occupies around 1,600 km². The Martian brown bear has also been under protection since the Abruzzo National Park was founded in 1923, but effective protection programs have never been established. Sometimes the threat comes from the growing agriculture and the increasing settlement of the Abruzzo and is increased by targeted poaching and poisoning (since the 17th century). But also by unrestrained dogs transmitted diseases such as canine parvovirus , the canine distemper and the Hundebrucellose are consisted threatening factors. This in total decimated the population to around 40 to 50 individuals. It is therefore not considered viable in the long term.
Today the Martian brown bear is fully protected in accordance with national laws, European directives, the Bern Convention and the Washington Convention . To ensure that the population is fed all year round without visiting human settlements, park rangers planted the forests with additional fruit trees and berries.
Systematics
Due to the separation of the alpine populations from about 400 to 600 years ago and the extinction of the female lineage, the populations are different now genetically so far as to that, a separate mtDNA - haplotype has developed. Loy et al. (2008) analyzed geographic variations of seven southern European populations of the species Ursus arctos with regard to sexual dimorphism , age structure and distribution areas and measured morphometric data of the skull, lower jaw and dentition. These analyzes have revealed clear morphological differences between the Martian brown bear and both southwest and southeast populations. Thus, after this work, the subspecies status as Ursus arctos marsicanus should remain. This study should also highlight the importance of species protection for the Martian brown bear.
Altobello first described the Martian brown bear as a subspecies of the brown bear Ursus arctos marsicanus in 1921 , but this information was based solely on studies of an adult female and two young animals. After further examinations of a male adult skull, Conti was able to confirm this in 1954. Toschi (1965), however, questioned this in the multi-volume work Fauna d'Italia. This was one of the reasons why Loy et al. made this study.
literature
- Giuseppe Altobello: Fauna dell'Abruzzo e del Molise . Vertebrati, mammiferi . tape 4 : I Carnivori . Colitti, Campobasso 1921.
Individual evidence
- ↑ a b Anna Loy et al .: Cranial morphometrics of the Apennine brown bear (Ursus arctos marsicanus) and preliminary notes on the relationships with other southern European populations . In: Italian Journal of Zoology . Volume 75, No. 1 . Taylor & Francis, 2008, ISSN 0373-4137 , pp. 67-75 ( online [PDF]).
- ↑ a b c d Marsican bear found dead in Abruzzo. Italy magazine, May 12, 2008, accessed February 9, 2016 .
- ^ A b c John Hooper: Italy battles to save the last of its wild bears. Guardian News and Media, August 21, 2004, accessed February 9, 2016 .
- ^ A b c d e Paolo Ciucci, L. Boitani: The Apennine Brown Bear: A Critical Review of Its Status and Conservation Problems . In: Ursus . Volume 19, No. 2 , 2008, ISSN 1537-6176 , p. 130-145 .
- ↑ Alessandra Falcucci et al .: Land-cover change and the future of the Apennine brown bear . A perspective from the past . In: Journal of mammalogy . Vol. 89, No. 6 . Oxford 2008, p. 1502-1511 .