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| Sathyakumar, S.; Viswanath, S. | |
| Observations on food habits of Asiatic black bear in Kedarnath Wildlife Sanctuary, India: preliminary evidence on their role in seed germination and dispersal | |
| 2003 Ursus (2003): 99-103 | |
We made observations on the food and feeding habits of Asiatic black bear and on the germination of bear food plants in Kedarnath Wildlife Sanctuary, Western Himalaya, during 1989-92. We observed Asiatic black bears on six occasions and collected 20 scats. Bear was observed feeding on _Rhododendron aroboreum_, _Berberis asiatica_ and on remains of a cattle kill made by common leopard (_Panthera pardus_). We had indirect observations of bears such as feeding signs and remains in scats on acorns of oak (_Quercus leucotrichophora, Q. semecarpifolia_), montane bamboo (_Arundinaria falcate_, _Thamnocalamus spathiflorus_), fruits and berries of _Symplocos theifolia_. Secondary information from several forest staff and local villagers indicated that black bears also feed on _Juglans regia_, _Prunus cornuta_, _Myrica nagi_, _Aesculus indica_, _Rubus elipticus_, _Fragaria indica_ and cultivated crops like maize and amaranth. In October 1990, 2 bear scats with intact seeds of _Symplocos theifolia_ - a small evergreen understorey tree species, were encountered in Mandal area at 1,900m. Germination tests were conducted in the laboratory and field nurseries on the seeds recovered from the scats and compared with freshly collected manually depulped seeds from mature standing trees. Observations on field germination trials of _Symplocos theifolia_ in field nurseries were also recorded. Results indicated that freshly matured seeds were dormant and did not germinate until 3rd week in laboratory test. In contrast, the matured seeds with pulpy outer layer (control) showed very little signs of germination and deteriorated very fast at 25/10øC and 25øC. Observations in laboratory showed increased germination of seeds that were ingested by bear when compared to control and freshly depulped seeds subjected to the same germination treatments. The proportion of seeds that germinated from the bear scat kept at 25øC was significantly higher than the proportion that germinated from the depulped seeds kept at 25øC. Under field nursery conditions, the seeds took nearly five months to germinate with poor germination percentage. Feeding by Asiatic black bear on _S. theifolia_ appeared to have shortened the mean length of dormancy of the seeds and improved its overall germination percentage. Removal of fruit material around seeds by bears through feeding may have increased the germination rate over those with intact fruit material because in the latter case, the pulpy seed coat created favourable conditions for bacterial infection and insect attack. |
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