Asiatic black bear (Moon bear)

The Asian black bear, often called the moon bear, is a medium-sized bear with a pale V-shaped or crescent patch on its chest. It lives in forests and mountains from Iran and the Himalayas to Southeast Asia, the Korean Peninsula, China, the Russian Far East, Taiwan and Japan. It is Vulnerable on the IUCN Red List.

In South Korea the animal is called the banddalgamseum-gom and is a symbol of wildlife restoration. Since 2004, bears have been released in Jirisan National Park to bring a lost wild population back. The bear is a very good tree climber. The Korean bear belongs to a subspecies called the Ussuri black bear, which lived on the Korean Peninsula before numbers dropped.

Body and food

Adults are about 130 to 190 centimetres long. Males weigh roughly 110 to 150 kilograms and females 65 to 90 kilograms. It is mostly a plant eater, feasting on shoots, nuts, acorns and fruit, and it loves honey, though it sometimes eats small animals. It is well adapted to life in trees and climbs well. It has a thick body, a black coat and a pale chest mark. Its closest relative is the American black bear, from which it split about three million years ago, according to some studies.

Winter sleep and threats

In winter the bear hibernates, usually sleeping in a hollow tree or rock cave. It has sharp senses of smell and hearing, and a mother gives birth to about two cubs on average. Habitat loss from deforestation and hunting for body parts used in traditional medicine are its biggest threats. Because moon bears need big forests with trees full of acorns and fruit, protected areas such as national parks give them room to live and sleep through winter in peace.

On the globe

The model shows a moon bear with its white crescent on the chest, as in the bears released in Jirisan.