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Marsican brown bear
The Marsican Brown Bear has always lived, even with numerical variations
during the years, in the Majella National Park territory. At present, it can
be stated that about 4-8 specimens are permanently living inside the Park
territory. During the last decades have been sighted, even if rarely, some
females with their cubs.
The existence of several and contiguous National, Regional Parks and Nature
Reserves enables the shifting of this plantigrade from an area to another
one. Hence, the interconnection of these areas plays a fundamental role,
especially in the Southern sector of the Park where the presence of this
species is stronger.
In 2001 Majella National Park, acting in accordance with “Gran Sasso e Monti
della Laga” National Park, set up a research project aimed to define the
situation of available food and environmental resources for this species on
both Parks territories. The project has been closed within the first months
of 2003 through the settlement of some interventions, which have been
carried out during the following years. The last target of these activities
was the stabilization of population and the reintroduction in those areas
where the bears lived until the XIXth Century..
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Description |
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The Marsican Brown Bear is a large-sized plantigrade (before the
hibernation males can reach more than 220 kg of weight and about
two meters of lenght), with short and rounded ears and squat
tail (5 - 10 cm). Usually the colour is dark brown, but
sometimes it can be shade into golden beige; the brightness
conditions can produce strong changes in the perception of their
colours. The Apennine Bear was assigned to a zoological
classification of subspecies (Ursus arctos marsicanus). |
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Behaviour |
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Lone and scarcely territorial species (it doesn’t actively
defend "its" portion of territory), the Bear mainly lives at
night. It is an animal with a low reproductive rate, which lives
in very wide territories, until dozen of square kilometers. The
cubs (usually 1 or 2, exceptionally 3, hardly ever 4) can weigh
4-500 grammes at birth, which occurs in December-January during
the maternal dormancy, and they slowly grow depending on their
mother for the following 2-3 years. During this period the
mothers don’t agree to the courtship of males. When the food
resources are almost worn-out the bears hibernate in winter
haunts, reducing their corporal metabolism until the following
spring. In fact, the phenomenon of dormancy is rarely complete;
often the bears, during the winter, leave their holes few hours
if it is a sunny day or they can find some food. |
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Feeding |
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Although it is classified as carnivorous, the bear uses a wider
food spectrum. The vegetal component -fruits, bulbs, mushrooms
and vegetables- is very high (until 60 - 70 %) while the animal
one, which also includes insects, honey, eggs, at times
large-sized mammals is about 30 - 40 %. The Bear rarely plunders
in an active way (but sometimes it doesn’t despise some sheep
and even bovines or equines); often it feeds on carrions sharing
them (reluctantly!) with wolves and some smaller carnivorous. |
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Habitat |
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Its typical habitat is the wood and in particular the beechwood
(between 800 and 1700 meters). At times it can move, in search
of food or just for shifting, in the high-altitudes grasslands,
in lower-altitudes oak woods or in the orchards next to the
houses. |
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Presence |
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Here is a list of typical signs of its presence. Faeces full of
not well-digested - given its carnivorous intestine - vegetal
rests (fruits, seeds, berries ecc.), the smell of which can
remind the scent of original fruits. Big turned-out blocks in
search of insects and maggots, especially ants; raspings on the
snow under the fruit trees and scratches on trunks. The most
typical sign of the bear presence is its tracks, absolutely
unmistakable. Moreover it has to mention, concerning the ways of
eating large-sized preys, that the bear skins the carcass of
plundered animals. The shepherds, in Abruzzo, call "straccio" (rag)
the remaining skin. |
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Sighting |
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Sighting our bears is very difficult since their elusive and
nocturnal habits. In the most mild winters it can be often found
tracks of some specimen on the snow, probably male, in search of
the last berries.. |
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Life Span |
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In captivity it has been recordered specimens that reached more
than 30 years; in nature, where the everyday survival struggle
is harder, they can reach only 20-25 years.. |
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Edited by Dr. Giorgio Boscagli
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