A bear has attacked small livestock in Korvonguzar village of Lakhsh district (Rasht Valley), about 320 kilometers northeast of Dushanbe, tearing up 47 of them.
The press center for the Emergencies Committee under the Government of Tajikistan reported on May 12 that the incident took place on May 10.
“Due to the negligence of the shepherd, the bear entered the corral in which there were small livestock and killed 47 of them,” Ms. Umeda Yusufi, a spokeswoman for the Emergencies Committee, told Asia-Plus in an interview.
The Tian Shan brown bear, Ursus arctos isabellinus, a subspecies of brown bear, is broadly distributed in Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, and Tajikistan. This bear inhabits lowlands and highlands from the elevation of 1000 m to 4700 meters above the sea level.
There are almost no bears present in areas below 1000 meters due to extreme anthropogenic transformation of the landscape. There are also no bears over 5000 meters due to a lack of food sources. Analysis shows that the density of bears varies depending on the elevation and habitat characteristics in Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, and Tajikistan. In Tajikistan, the highest density is found in the Hissar-Alay mountain system and the lowest density in the Western and Central Pamir mountains. Small populations are found on the high plateau of the Eastern Pamirs.
