About

• Tibetan brown bear (Ursus arctos pruinosus) also known as the Tibetan blue bear is one of the rarest subspecies of bears in the world, and is rarely sighted in the wild. 
• It is an omnivore with its diet generally consisting of marmots and alpine vegetation. 
• This rare bear is very different from the more commonly found Himalayan Black Bear in terms of its appearance, habitat, and behaviour. 
• It inhabits high-altitude alpine forests, meadows, and steppes above 4000 m. Also, it is very shy of human contact and therefore very seldom observed. 
• It is uniquely adapted to the harsh conditions of the Tibetan Plateau. 
• Until now, there were only a few confirmed records from Nepal, Bhutan, and the Tibetan plateau. 

Protection Status: 

• CITES: Appendix I; Wildlife Protection Act (2022): Schedule I. 

Why in News?

• In the first-ever confirmed record of the Tibetan brown bear in India, camera traps recorded this rare species in the high-altitudes of North Sikkim. 
• This discovery adds a new subspecies to the mammal diversity of the country.