Parentage analysis revealed the solitary life of an orphaned black bear cub (Ursus thibetanus)

Abstract

In the midwinter of 2007, a yearling Asian black bear cub (Ursus thibetanus) invaded a house and was captured in Yamagata prefecture. With 10 microsatellite loci and the mitochondrial D-loop region as genetic markers, the mother of the cub was sought among bears harvested by nuisance control in the study area. Genetic data suggest that the mother of the cub had been killed in October 2006. This result indicates that the cub lived alone for at least 110 days in the cold winter without its mother.