The population of Asiatic Black bears (Ursus thibetanus) is declining in Pakistan. We investigated the habitat of the Asiatic Black bear in the Malakandi reserved forest having an area of 1922.7 hectares by using the line transect method. Two types of transects were taken, straight line transect and curvilinear line transect having a length of 150 meters to 250 meters having a width of 10 meters on each side of the transect. In our study, we find a total of 49 different signs, out of which 44% were scats signs. The highest percentage of signs were found near Pinus wallichiana trees (18.4%) followed by Ficus carica (16.3%) while in shrubs highest percentage was recorded (8.2%) in Viburnum spps. Furthermore, the GPS collected the highest number of signs between elevations from 6,000 feet to 7,200 feet (eTrex® 20). Our research also shows the dietary pattern of Asiatic Black bears (Ursus thibetanus) during the late summer season, they mostly eat fruits of Ficus carica as by scats analysis we found that 77 % of them contain seeds of Ficus carica. The analysis of scats is done by the physical comparison of undigested items found in the scats and the fruits and cones collected from the field. Our finding shows that more laboratory work on scats analysis is needed for the best habitat assessment and food preference of Asiatic Black bears in our study area.

Keywords: Asiatic Black bear, Pinus wallichiana, Reserved Forest, Malakandi, Habitat preference, Elevation distribution.