ISSN: 2578-4994
Authors: Alireza Salehi* and Arya Shafaeipour
Aims: this study aims at range mapping of brown bears using sighting information in the province of Kohgiluyeh and Boyer Ahmed(K&B) in southern Zagros region, western Iran as one of the most important habitats for brown bears in Iran. Material and methods: Brown bear sightings were obtained through interviews using the snowball sampling method from mid-September to the end of September 2018 in K&B, western Iran, one of the most important habitats for brown bears. Based on this information, brown bear occurrence areas in the provinces were mapped. The created map was divided into two density categories generated buffers by the home range size of adult brown bears in a similar habitat. Findings: Overlaying the density maps produced with the land cover use maps and protected area maps, brown bears occupied approximately 38% of the total area of K&B. Forests and low-density forests occupied approximately 99.8% and 50% of bear habitat within and outside the protected areas, respectively. Protected areas accounted for only 20% of the bear habitat. Conclusion: Most of the distribution of the brown bears in K&B is situated in the woodland and low-density forests and the conservation of Persian oak forests as a habitat and food source for brown bears has an effective and major role on conservation of brown bears.
Keywords: Protected areas; the Zagros Mountains; Umbrella species
