The list of skull specimens of Asiatic black bears (Ursus thibetanus) collected by Forestry and Forest Products Research Institute

Abstract

Forestry and Forest Products Research Institute (FFPRI) collected 1495 heads of Asiatic black bears (Ursus thibetanus) legally killed in the western Honshu (Chugoku, Kinki, Hokuriku) and the eastern Honshu (Tohoku) of Japan during 1985-2013. 696 skull specimens from the western Honshu were stocked at Kansai Research Center, and 559 skull specimens from the eastern Honshu were stocked at Tohoku Research Center. 240 skull specimens from Kyoto Prefecture were donated to the Kyoto University Museum. These specimens have been utilized for the studies primarily by researchers of FFPRI, and produced many scientific papers on conservation genetics, population management, and morphology and so on. Now, we provide the list of these specimens in order to facilitate uses of the specimens by other researchers. The list includes specimen ID, capture year and month, capture locality, sex, age-class, weight, head and body length of the bears.