Searching for a black bear with a bullet hole in it is bad enough, but tracking a big northern bear of theUrsus arctos horribilis variety is downright dangerous.

Among many beautiful animal species found in these mountains, one remarkable example is the Himalayan brown bear (Ursus arctos isabellinus).

Gordon bottle feeds a five-week-old Russian bear cub (Ursus arctos) called Zhora at the Orphaned Bear Rescue Centre, Bubonitsy

These majestic ranges are home to some of the world's most fascinating and endangered wild species, including the markhor (Capra falconeri), Marco Polo sheep (Ovis ammon polii), musk deer (Moschus chrysogaster), Himalayan lynx (Lynx lynx), blue sheep (Pseudois nayaur), brown bear (Ursus arctos), Indian wolf (Canis lupus), Himalayan ibex (Capra sibirica), and the snow leopard, which is taken as an indicator of this mountainous ecosystem.

The brown bear (Ursus arctos isabellinus) is distributed in most of the Europe, Asia, North America, Middle East, and some parts of North Africa (Swenson et al., 2000; Servheen et al, 1999).

Sadly, we did not see the main forest residentUrsus Arctos or Brown Bear, even though some 13,000 of them patrol this region of Siberia.

Other large mammals found here are the lynx (Lynx lynx), brown bear (Ursus arctos), wild boar (Sus scrofa), wolf (Canis lupus), golden jackal (Canis aureus), jungle cat (Felis chaus), red fox (Vulpes vulpes), roe deer (Capreolus capreolus), badger (Meles meles), and otter (Lutra lutra), etc.

Grizzly (brown) bearsUrsus arctos are habitat generalists with a diverse, omnivorous diet (Hamer et al.

Today, the Himalayan brown bear --Ursus arctos isabellinus -- is listed as "critically endangered" on the International Union for the Conservation of Nature's Red List.

Key words: polar bear; Ursus maritimus; grizzly bear;Ursus arctos; hybrid; microsatellites; High Arctic; Northwest Territories; Viscount Melville Sound