Naturally, signs of life come as a surprise in this sun-blasted, wind-scoured landscape. So seeing a Gobi bear (Ursus arctos gobiensis), one of the rarest and least known large mammals on Earth, is truly magnificent. There are no more than 24-36 individual bears left in the wild, and none live in captivity anywhere.
For those working to increase the Gobi bear’s alarmingly low numbers, the death of even one individual undermines the urgency of their task. So do the clear signs that mining is likely to make its way to the Mongolian desert. Vast deposits of minerals, precious metals, and fossil fuels are being uncovered in the country, especially in the desert. Nearly a third of the nation’s income may soon come from a massive new copper and gold mine in the Gobi. What may one day rank as the world’s largest coal mine is under development in the desert as well. The suspected mineral wealth here is so great that industry players have taken to calling this land “Minegolia.”
However, there are flicker's of hope on the Gobi bears horizon! The Mongolian government declared 2013 the “Year of Protecting the Gobi Bear,” promising to devote more money to conservation of the species. The Mongolian public has embraced the bear as a national treasure, allured by its rarity. Not long ago a gold-mining company sought access to protected land crucial to the bear’s survival. The government turned down the request, at least for now.
The people of southwestern Mongolia have long known of the mysterious animal they called "mazaalai", but credible reports were mixed with tall tales of a "shaggy, humanlike creature" roaming the desert. It wasn't until 1943 that a Russian scientist-explorer confirmed that Gobi bears actually exist. Although they belong to the species Ursus arctos, commonly known as the brown bear or grizzly, their coats are often more bronze than brown and show blazes of white on the forequarters and neck. They also tend to be smaller than most North American grizzlies, whose living conditions are plush by comparison.
One genetic study suggests that the Gobi lineage is an ancient one, closer than any other to the ancestral brown bear, which first arose in Asia. Experts originally considered Gobi bears a distinct subspecies, gobiensis. However, they may turn out to be an isolated group of the subspecies isabellinus, still found in China’s Tien Shan mountains and the Himalaya.
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