author(s)
Vijay Kumar Yadav, DS Chauhan and PC Lakhera

abstract
The Asiatic black bear (Ursus thibetanus) is one of the largest species found in the Greater Himalayan region and very few studies has conducted for investigation its status and feeding habits in the Himalaya. We assessed its occurrence along with altitudes and feeding habits in the Nanda Devi Biosphere Reserve (NDBR), Uttarakhand, India. We collected and analysed scats (n = 38), and based on scat analysis we identified 38 different types of food items, with maximum frequency of occurrence for Zea mays (50%) followed by Ribes himalense, Malus pumila, Honey Bees and Honey with similar frequency of occurrence (47.37%) and Phaseolus vulgaris (44.74%). We observed that maximum intake of food items by black bear from the Rosaceae family (41%) followed by the Poaceae family (14%). According to vegetation life form overall percentage of tree, shrub, herb and climber was 28.95%, 23.68%, 18.42% and 5.26% respectively and animal life form percentage of vertebrate, invertebrate and other was 10.53%, 5.26% and 7.89% respectively. We recorded four key types of bear signs (n = 192) from the NDBR; feeding signs (46.35%), claw/bite marks (24.48%), scats (19.79%) and direct sightings (9.38%). Maximum signs were encountered between 2501-3000 m altitude (38.02%) followed by between 3001-3500 m altitude (23.96%). Crop and livestock depredation shows the attraction of Asiatic black bear towards high risk human related food and this attraction is the key factor for human-black bear conflict in the reserve.