Litter sizes of brown bears in the Central Alborz Protected Area, Iran

November 1, 2011

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Although smaller than 4,000 km², the Central Aiborz Protected Area (CAPA) is one of the main habitats of brown bear (Ursus arctos) in Iran. During August 2005 to September 2009, we gathered data through direct observations of bears, identifying individual bears by means of age, sex, color, and behavior. We observed bears on 115 occasions. Mean size of cub litters was 2.00 (SE = 0.20, n = 13) and varied from 1 to 3. We speculate that low occurrence of meat in food items of the bears in the area explains this relatively small litter size. We hypothesize that the north-central portion of the Aiborz Protected Area is a female core area which supports surrounding sink populations and needs to be protected more effectively.

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