Spatial patterns and ecological determinants of Himalayan brown bear distribution in the Trans-Himalayas of India.

ABSTRACT: The Trans-Himalayan region of Ladakh is home to the endangered Himalayan brown bear, a species that remains understudied in high-altitude environments. In the Indian Himalayas, brown bears are threatened by low population densities, and isolated, insular populations. Brown bear presence points in this landscape were collected through trail transects using polygon search framework in a systematic, grid-based manner covering ~ 35,100 km² (275 grids) with 4012 trails ranging from 0.5 to 6.78 km. A total of 2530 brown bear signs were recorded across the logistically possible surveyed region of the total 680 grids (10 X 10 km²). We employed occupancy framework to understand the environmental and anthropogenic factors influencing brown bear distribution while accounting for

SUBMITTER: Khan NH 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC12660888 | biostudies-literature | 2025 Nov

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature