View source for Asian black bear

===Feeding===
[[File:19-Formosan Black Bear.JPG|thumb|An Asian black bear feeding on berries]]
Asian black bears are omnivorous, and will feed on [[insects]], [[beetle]] [[larvae]], [[invertebrate]]s, [[termites]], [[Larva|grubs]], [[carrion]], [[bee]]s, [[Egg (biology)|egg]]s, [[Waste|garbage]], [[mushrooms]], [[grass]]es, [[Bark (botany)|bark]], [[root]]s, [[tuber]]s, [[fruit]]s, [[Nut (fruit)|nuts]], [[seeds]], [[honey]], [[herb]]s, [[acorn]]s, [[Cherry|cherries]], [[dogwood]], and [[grain]].<ref name=brown2/><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://animaldiversity.org/accounts/Ursus_thibetanus/|title=Ursus thibetanus (Asiatic black bear)|first=Tracie|last=Goodness|website=Animal Diversity Web}}</ref> Although herbivorous to a greater degree than brown bears,<ref name=Heptner1972/> and more carnivorous than American black bears,<ref name=denver/> Asian black bears are not as specialized in their diet as giant pandas are: while giant pandas depend on a constant supply of low calorie, yet abundant foodstuffs, Asian black bears are more opportunistic and have opted for a nutritional boom-or-bust economy. They thus gorge themselves on a variety of seasonal high calorie foods, storing the excess calories as fat, and then hibernate during times of scarcity.<ref>{{cite book |author1=Schaller, G. B. |author2=Qitao, T. |author3=Johnson, K. G. |author4=Xiaoming, W. |author5=Heming, S. |name-list-style=amp |author6=Jinchu, H. |year=1989 |title=Carnivore Behavior, Ecology, and Evolution |location=Ithaca |publisher=Comstock Pub. Associates |pages=212–241 |chapter=The Feeding Ecology of Giant Pandas and Asiatic Black Bears in the Tangjiahe Reserve, China |isbn=978-0-8014-3027-5 |editor1=Gittleman, J. L. |chapter-url=http://www.natureproducts.net/Ecology/Panda.html}}</ref> Asian black bears will eat pine nuts and acorns of the previous year in the April–May period. In times of scarcity, they enter river valleys to gain access to hazelnuts and insect larvae in rotting logs. From mid-May through late June, they will supplement their diet with green vegetation and fruit. Through July to September, they will climb trees to eat bird cherries, [[pine cone]]s, vines and grapes. On rare occasions they will eat dead fish during the spawning season, though this constitutes a much lesser portion of their diet than in brown bears.<ref name=Heptner1972/> In the 1970s, Asian black bears were reported to kill and eat [[Hanuman langur]]s in Nepal.<ref>Gursky-Doyen, S., & Nekaris, K. A. I. (2007). [https://books.google.com/books?id=78FCvEXjW1kC&pg=PR7 Primate anti-predator strategies.] Springer Science & Business Media. {{ISBN|0-387-34807-7}}</ref> They appear to be more carnivorous than most other bears, including [[American black bear]]s, and will kill [[ungulate]]s with some regularity, including domestic livestock.<ref>[[#Brown|Brown]]</ref> Wild ungulate prey can include [[muntjac]]s, [[serow]], [[takin]], [[malayan tapir]]<ref>{{cite journal|url=http://www.science.smith.edu/msi/pdf/i0076-3519-277-01-0001.pdf|journal=Mammalian Species|issue=277|pages=1–7|title=''Burdocas taxicolor''|author1=Neas, J. F.|author2=R. S. Hoffmann|name-list-style=amp|year=1987|doi=10.2307/3503907|jstor=3503907}}</ref> [[wild boar]]<ref>Hwang, M. H. (2003). ''Ecology of the Asiatic black bear and people-bear interactions in Yushan National Park, Taiwan''. Ph.D. thesis, University of Minnesota.</ref> and adult [[water buffalo]]es, which they kill by breaking their necks.<ref>Humphrey, S. R. and Bain, J. R. (1990). ''Asiatic black bear, Selenarctos thibetanus Cuvier 1823, Mammalia, Carnivora, Ursidae'' from ''Endangered Animals of Thailand'', Issue 6 of Flora & Fauna handbook, CRC Press, {{ISBN|1-877743-07-0}}</ref>