Summer Food Habits of Brown Bears in Kekexili Nature Reserve, Qinghai: Tibetan Plateau, China

November 1, 2006

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We documented food habits of brown bear (Ursus arctos) during summer 2005 in an important calving area for Tibetan antelope (Pantholops hodgsonii) in the Kekexili Nature Reserve, Qinghai province, China. Fecal analysis (n = 83) revealed that the plateau pika (Ochotona curzoniae) was the primary prey (78% occurrence, 46% dry weight), and that wild yak (Bos grunniens; 39%, 31%) and Tibetan antelope (35%, 17%) were important alternative prey. Vegetation also occurred in bear feces (17% occurrence). Brown bears in this region were evidently primarily carnivorous, a survival tactic adapted to the special environment of Qinghai-Tibetan plateau.

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