Abstract 994 – Mapping Asian Bears — a Novel Approach for Large-scale Species Range Mapping to Inform Conservation

Chengcheng Zhang, William McShea, David Garshelis, Dana Morin, Nina Santostasi

Mapping geographic ranges is an essential step in assessing species’ status and threats. The first
modern range maps for Asian bears were published by the Bear Specialist Group (BSG) in a
Conservation Action Plan in 1999, and updated at a BSG workshop in 2006. These maps were
created using an ad hoc process, melding scattered reports with “expert opinion” of BSG
members, and were published online with Red List accounts of each species. In 2016–2017, the
BSG updated these Red List maps, incorporating new information, and in some cases, computer
modelling. Lacking metadata and involving a mixture of processes, it has been difficult to assess
the reliability of these maps.We designed a new mapping approach, which, during 2024–2027,
will be used to revise the range maps for Asiatic black bears, sloth bears, sun bears, and brown
bears in Asia. We will involve BSG members as well as other individuals with local knowledge of
bear presence (or absence) in portions of each of the 33 bear range countries in Asia. This is not
a crowdsourcing effort, but rather targeted participation of people with familiarity of bear
presence. Contributors will draw polygons on a computer app, and may also submit “hard data”
in the form of presence points (e.g., camera trapping records). Each presence/absence polygon
and all presence points will be associated with metadata (who, when, how detected). This novel
method recognizes that people who spend significant time in an area often are aware of bears
even if they are not detected in formal surveys. Using this information helps ameliorate
deficiencies in hard data (e.g., clumped in selected habitats, targeted at other species), which
can cause computer models to produce misleading results (e.g., inclusion of good habitats
where bears have been extirpated; exclusion of marginal habitats where bears are known to
persist). The process will be fully transparent, yielding a revisable map, which can serve as a
valuable tool for assessing conservation status (e.g., identifying small isolated populations or
important corridors), and monitoring expansion or shrinkage of range. This project involves the
“Assess” component of the Species Conservation Cycle using large-scale “Networking”, and
eventually “Communicating” the results widely, so they can be put to use.