In a remarkable discovery, a rare Tibetan brown bear has been spotted in India for the first time. Camera traps installed by the Sikkim Forest Department and WWF-India recorded this rare species at the high altitudes of North Sikkim. Indian Forest Service (IFS) official Parveen Kaswan, who regularly shares interesting facts about wildlife, posted two photos of the bear on his social media account.
''You see the very first photo of a rare Tibetan brown bear from #India. This adds another subspecies to India's #biodiversity. This rare animal has been documented in the higher reaches of Sikkim with the joint effort of #Sikkim FD and WWF. There is still so much India to be discovered,” the photos were captioned.
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You will see the very first photo of a rare Tibetan brown bear #India. This adds another subspecies to the Indian #biodiversity. This rare animal has been documented in the higher reaches of Sikkim with the concerted effort of #Sikkim FD and WWF. There is still so much India to be discovered. pic.twitter.com/NvMohtXxjT
— Parveen Kaswan, IFS (@ParveenKaswan) January 15, 2024
According to PTI, this rare bear is very different from the more common Himalayan black bear in appearance, habitat and behavior, officials said. The omnivore lives in high alpine forests, meadows and steppes above 4000 m and feeds on marmots and alpine vegetation.
The Tibetan brown bear, also known as the Tibetan blue bear, is one of the rarest subspecies of bears in the world and is rarely sighted in the wild. Only a few were observed from Nepal, Bhutan and the Tibetan Plateau.
Commenting on the phenomenal discovery, one user said: 'Oh wow. Amazing and his fur coat is so nice and thick. Super observation.'' Another commented: 'There is still so much of nature unexplored.'
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