Ursus thibetanus
Silhouette: Tracy A. Heath · PhyloPic
In 3 days ~40% in a week ~70%
The Asian black bear (Ursus thibetanus), also known as the Asiatic black bear, moon bear and white-chested bear, is a medium-sized bear species native to Asia that is largely adapted to an arboreal lifestyle. It is distributed from southeastern Iran, Pakistan, India and the Himalayas to mainland Southeast Asia, the Korean Peninsula, Taiwan, China and the Russian Far East to the islands of Honshū and Shikoku in Japan. It is listed as vulnerable on the IUCN Red List, and is threatened by deforestation and poaching for its body parts, which are used in traditional medicine.
Biologically and morphologically, the Asian black bear represents the beginning of the arboreal specializations attained by sloth bears and sun bears. It has karyotypes nearly identical to those of the five other ursine bears, and has 74 chromosomes. It is considered the least derived of the Old World bears. It is either a surviving, albeit modified, form of Ursus etruscus, specifically the early, small variety of the Middle Villafranchian or a larger form of Ursus minimus, an extinct species that arose 4 million years ago. With the exception of the age of the bones, it... Wikipedia →
| # | Park | Country | Daily sighting probability |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Khao Yai National Park | 🇹🇭 Thailand |
More parks will be added in future updates.
| # | City | Country | Daily sighting probability |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Sendai | 🇯🇵 Japan |
Possible
About 20% of wildlife watchers report an Asiatic Black Bear sighting in Khao Yai National Park on a given day, based on 31 verified sightings from GBIF citizen-science data from 2019 to 2026. It is the 18th most-seen of the 24 mammals we can rate there. Over three days the chance rises to about 40%, and over a week to about 70%, if each day is a fresh chance.
March
In that month about 40% of wildlife watchers report an Asiatic Black Bear in Khao Yai National Park on a given day, against under 5% in July to November, the lowest months. That is one of Khao Yai National Park's driest months, with about 85 mm of rain against 330 mm in September.
Between 3 and 6 am
Across all the parks we cover, that three-hour window holds the most Asiatic Black Bear sightings with a recorded time, and about half of them come between 6 am and 6 pm: it is most active around dawn and dusk.
Only Khao Yai National Park, in our data
Khao Yai National Park is the only park on Wallace's Line with enough records to rate Asiatic Black Bear sightings: about 20% of wildlife watchers there report one on a given day.
Same order: Carnivora
The closest relatives of the Asiatic Black Bear that you can see in Khao Yai National Park (order Carnivora, Carnivorans) are Asian Jackal (about 40%), Common Palm Civet (about 30%) and Small Indian Civet (about 20%), with each one's daily chance of a sighting.
GBIF citizen-science records
It is estimated from how often the Asiatic Black Bear is recorded against all the mammals logged in Khao Yai National Park (31 verified sightings from 2019 to 2026), calibrated against known sighting rates. Figures are rounded to the nearest 10% because citizen-science data supports honest approximations, not decimals, and months with records from fewer than five people show "—". How it works.
