Marsican brown bear

Marsican brown bear
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Mammalia
Order: Carnivora
Family: Ursidae
Genus: Ursus
Species:
U. arctos
Subspecies:
U. a. marsicanus / arctos
Trinomial name
Ursus arctos marsicanus / arctos
Altobello, 1921
A broad view of the National Park of Abruzzo

The Marsican brown bear (Ursus arctos arctos,[3] formerly Ursus arctos marsicanus), also known as the Apennine brown bear, and orso bruno marsicano in Italian, is a critically endangered[4] population of the Eurasian brown bear, with a range restricted to the Parco Nazionale d'Abruzzo, Lazio e Molise, and the surrounding region in Italy. The Marsican brown bear differs slightly from other brown bears in its appearance and hibernation techniques. The bear's popular name is derived from Marsica, a historic area of the modern-day region of Abruzzo where the bear has long had a significant presence.

With their existence dwindling, the Italian government has recently begun to stress their conservation. The park has become a sanctuary dedicated to animals such as the Marsican brown bear, with hopes of rekindling the large, yet isolative bears' once-thriving existence. Debate exists as to whether it should be considered a subspecies or a taxon of its own.[5]

  1. ^ "Brown Bear (Ursus arctos) Isolated Subpopulations". IUCN. Retrieved 29 August 2022.
  2. ^ "Endangered Species". awionline.org.
  3. ^ Wozencraft, W. C. (2005). "Ursus arctos". In Wilson, D. E.; Reeder, D. M. (eds.). Mammal Species of the World: A Taxonomic and Geographic Reference (3rd ed.). Johns Hopkins University Press. pp. 588–589. ISBN 978-0-8018-8221-0. OCLC 62265494.
  4. ^ Djuro Huber (Large Carnivore Initiative for Europe; Bear Specialist Group) (2006). "Ursus arctos". IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. 2006.
  5. ^ Loy, A.; P. Genov; M. Galfoc; M. G. Jacobonec; A. Vigna Tagliantic (2008), "Cranial morphometrics of the Apennine brown bear (Ursus arctos marsicanus) and preliminary notes on the relationships with other southern European populations", Italian Journal of Zoology, 75 (1): 67–75, doi:10.1080/11250000701689857