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I wonder what did my ancestors think when they were in front of the beach... Is this the end of the world?
The speed limit is 35 mph, everything just looks fast at these close distances.
Heading south on what's known as South Fletcher Avenue locally - the Atlantic Ocean is to the east.
There's an interesting mix of homes and even a few open oceanfront lots.
Eigentlich kann die CANON POWERSHOT SX70 HS nur Blende 3.4 bis 8.0.
Hier zeigt die Kamera aber Blende F16.
Nachgeschärft.
6x9 is just about the physical limit one can handle without a tripod. I have been curious about this camera for a long time. The format is so similar to 135 but the photos have more depth. DOF is so shallow for a F3.5 lens...
Tec: Fuji GSW690, 90 F3.5 lens, wide open. Kodak Portra 400
My all time favorite MILW ROW sign. Too bad it was so vandalized. Looking east towards Watertown on the Madison line. April 1993
But when your look beyond boundaries they are only obstacles in our path..Look beyond the boundaries in our lives..Sunset on the backroads
Out of all the days I pick to go and visit Pan Am's District 3, I happened to get lucky and catch a glimpse of an occurrence that doesn't happen all too often during this time of year. With daylight savings shortening a good amount of time for potential sunlight, it makes it quite difficult for buffs and railfans to capture late-afternoon trains in daylight. Somehow, the crew of this day's 23K was on duty at 1400 in AY (Ayer), giving us some good shots of the SD60E's in light (or at least what we had of it). Usually these guys will be rolling out of Ayer yard anywhere between 5-8 PM, which gives phots complete darkness and increases the difficulty of snapping a decent shot of the westbound intermodal, destined for Chicago, IL.
23K seen here, slowly rolls out of Ayer yard, having it's whole train clear yard limits before resuming track speed. On point, is a rebuilt SD60E, followed by another rebuilt locomotive (AC44C6M) which was sporting a Nathan P5 airhorn, and was sandwiched between another SD60E in MU mode, trailing behind the first 2 locomotives.
Mechita es una localidad cuya planta urbana se localiza en el límite entre dos jurisdicciones, por lo que el 77 % de su población reside en el Partido de Bragado y el restante 23 % en el de Alberti en la Provincia de Buenos Aires, Argentina.
Se encuentra ubicada sobre un acceso de 3 km de longitud (reconstruido a nuevo en el año 2007) desde la Ruta Nacional 5, sobre la traza de la línea ferroviaria que vincula la Estación Once con la provincia de La Pampa, a 10 km de distancia de la ciudad de Bragado y a 17 km de la ciudad de Alberti.
Cuenta con 1.826 habitantes (INDEC, 2010), lo que representa un descenso del 1,8% frente a los 1.860 habitantes (INDEC, 2001) del censo anterior. Un total de 1.414 habitantes (INDEC, 2010) se encontraban en el partido de Bragado y 412 habitantes (INDEC, 2010) en el partido de Alberti.
El pueblo de Mechita tiene su origen en 1904, con la construcción de unos talleres ferroviarios para la línea Sarmiento del Ferrocarril Oeste, al prolongarse las vías del ferrocarril desde Chivilcoy hasta Bragado, y producirse la necesidad de contar allí con un depósito de locomotoras y una playa de maniobras. La ubicación del pueblo surgió de una discrepancia entre la empresa ferroviaria, en manos inglesas, y los dueños de los terrenos donde se ubicarían los talleres de Bragado. Al no llegar a un acuerdo comercial entre ambos, el Dr. Manuel Quintana, entonces Presidente de la Nación, se ofreció a donar los campos de su propiedad para destinarlos a la construcción de los talleres ferroviarios.
Con un pasado netamente ferroviario, posee un patrimonio histórico de gran importancia: los talleres y las viviendas del playón que, desde 1906, dio servicio al antiguo Ferrocarril Oeste (hoy Ferrocarril Sarmiento), de construcción inglesa original, y que se mantienen conservados por el tiempo junto con gran cantidad de vagones y locomotoras de antaño. Véase: Estación Mechita.
En 1908 se terminaron de construir los talleres, el depósito de locomotoras y unas colonias (viviendas) para el personal ferroviario. Esto fue el punto de partida para la formación de un núcleo de población, con el traslado, por parte de la empresa, de empleados de distintos lugares a esa localidad. Debido a este crecimiento, en 1910 se inauguró la "Estación Mechita".
Si bien estaba situada en tierras aptas para practicar el cultivo y la ganadería, la actividad económica de Mechita se concentró casi exclusivamente en el depósito y reparación de locomotoras, además del movimiento que producía la estación misma. Históricamente, cerca del 95% de la población económicamente activa vivía directa o indirectamente del ferrocarril.
En 1950 vivían en el pueblo cerca de 5.000 personas, y las 118 colonias de estilo inglés construidas inicialmente para los operarios ya en 1930 habían sido rebasadas con creces, lo que había provocado la ampliación de la planta urbana. En su época de esplendor, corrían entre 6 y 7 trenes diarios de pasajeros a la Capital Federal y viceversa, al igual que 13 trenes diarios locales a la ciudad de Bragado cuyo fin principal era transportar a los empleados que trabajaban aquí.
El origen del nombre, que también se le dio al pueblo, y el de otro sector de la localidad y de los talleres denominados Mecha, se deben al agradecimiento de la empresa a Quintana, cuya esposa e hija se llamaban Mercedes.
UN POCO DE HISTORIA
www.lanacion.com.ar/800851-mechita-un-destino-signado-por...
Abraham Lincoln (1920) is a colossal seated figure of the 16th president of the United States, Abraham Lincoln (1809–1865), sculpted by Daniel Chester French (1850–1931) and carved by the Piccirilli Brothers. Located in the Lincoln Memorial (constructed 1914–1922), on the National Mall, Washington, D.C., United States, the statue was unveiled in 1922. The work follows in the Beaux Arts and American Renaissance style traditions.
The 170-ton statue is composed of 28 blocks of white Georgia marble (Georgia Marble Company)[1][vague] and rises 30 feet (9.1 m) from the floor, including the 19-foot (5.8 m) seated figure (with armchair and footrest) upon an 11-foot (3.4 m) high pedestal. The figure of Lincoln gazes directly ahead and slightly down with an expression of gravity and solemnity. His frock coat is unbuttoned, and a large United States flag is draped over the chair back and sides. French paid particular attention to Lincoln's expressive hands, which rest on the enormous arms of a semi-circular ceremonial chair, whose fronts bear fasces, emblems of authority from Roman antiquity. French used casts of his own fingers to achieve the correct placement.
Daniel Chester French was selected in 1914 by the Lincoln Memorial Committee to create a Lincoln statue as part of the memorial to be designed by architect Henry Bacon (1866–1924). French was already famous for his 1874 The Minute Man statue in Concord, Massachusetts, and other works such as his 1884 John Harvard statue. He was also the personal choice of Bacon, who had already been collaborating with him for nearly 25 years. French resigned his chairmanship of the Fine Arts Commission in Washington, D.C. — a group closely affiliated with the memorial's design and creation — and commenced work in December.
French had already created (1909–1912) a major memorial statue of Lincoln—this one standing—for the Nebraska State Capitol (Abraham Lincoln, 1912) in Lincoln, Nebraska. His previous studies of Lincoln—which included biographies, photographs, and a life mask of Lincoln by Leonard Volk done in 1860—had prepared him for the challenging task of the larger statue. He and Bacon decided that a large seated figure would be most appropriate for the national memorial. French started with a small clay study and subsequently created several plaster models, making subtle changes in the figure's pose or setting. He placed Lincoln not in an ordinary 19th-century seat but in a classical chair, including fasces, a Roman symbol of authority, to convey that the subject was an eminence for all the ages.
Three plaster models of the Lincoln statue are at French's Chesterwood Studio, a National Trust Historic Site in Stockbridge, Massachusetts, including a plaster sketch (1915) and a six-foot plaster model (1916). The second of French's plasters, created at Chesterwood in the summer of 1916 (inscribed October 31), became the basis of the final work, which was initially envisioned as a 12-foot (3.7 m) bronze. In deciding the size of the final statue, French and Bacon took photographic enlargements of the model to the memorial under construction. Eventually, French's longtime collaborators, the firm of Piccirilli Brothers, were commissioned to do the carving of a much larger sculpture in marble from a quarry near Tate, Georgia.
French's design took a year to transfer to the massive marble blocks. French provided finishing strokes in the carvers' studio in The Bronx, New York City and after the statue was assembled in the memorial on the National Mall in 1920. Lighting the statue was a particular problem. In creating the work, French had understood that a large skylight would provide direct, natural illumination from overhead, but this was not included in the final plans. The horizontal light from the east flattened Lincoln's facial features—making him appear to stare blankly rather than wear a dignified expression—and highlighted his shins. French considered this a disaster. In the end, an arrangement of electric lights was devised to correct this situation. The work was unveiled at the memorial's formal dedication on May 30, 1922.
It is often said that the Lincoln figure is signing his own initials in the American manual alphabet: A with his left hand, "L" with his right. The National Park Service is at best ambivalent toward the story, saying, "It takes some imagination to see signs in Lincoln's hands." French had a deaf son and had depicted Thomas Hopkins Gallaudet signing in the manual alphabet.
Daniel Chester French (April 20, 1850 – October 7, 1931) was an American sculptor of the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. He is best known for his 1874 sculpture The Minute Man in Concord, Massachusetts, and his 1920 monumental statue of Abraham Lincoln in the Lincoln Memorial in Washington, D.C.
French was the son of Anne Richardson (1811–1856), daughter of William Merchant Richardson (1774–1838), chief justice of New Hampshire; and of Henry Flagg French (1813–1885). His siblings were Henriette Van Mater French Hollis (1839–1911), Sarah Flagg French Bartlett (1846–1883), and William M.R. French (1843–1914). He was the uncle of Senator Henry F. Hollis.
French was born in Exeter, New Hampshire, to Henry Flagg French (1813–1885), a lawyer, judge, Assistant US Treasury Secretary, and author of a book that described the French drain,[1] and his wife Anne Richardson. In 1867, French moved with his family to Concord, Massachusetts, where he was a neighbor and friend of Ralph Waldo Emerson, and the Alcott family. His decision to pursue sculpting was influenced by Louisa May Alcott's sister Abigail May Alcott.
French in his studio with the model for Thomas Hopkins Gallaudet and Alice Cogswell, c. 1889, Department of Image Collections, National Gallery of Art Library, Washington, DC
French's early education included training in anatomy with William Rimmer and in drawing with William Morris Hunt. French spent a year studying at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, and also several years in Florence, Italy, studying in the studio of Thomas Ball. French first earned acclaim for The Minute Man, commissioned by the town of Concord, Massachusetts, which was unveiled April 19, 1875, on the centenary of the Battle of Lexington and Concord. He soon established his own studio, first in Washington, DC, moving later to Boston and then to New York City. French's reputation grew with his Statue of the Republic for the World's Columbian Exposition of 1893, in Chicago. Other memorable works by French include: the First Division Monument and the Butt-Millet Memorial Fountain in Washington; John Harvard, Cambridge, Massachusetts; bronze doors for the Boston Public Library; and Four Continents at the US Custom House, New York (now the Alexander Hamilton US Custom House). In addition to the Lincoln Memorial, French collaborated with architect Henry Bacon on numerous memorials around the country and on the Dupont Circle fountain in Washington, DC.
In 1893, French was a founding member of the National Sculpture Society, and he was appointed a Fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences in 1913. During this time, he served as an instructor at the Art Students League of New York, teaching sculpture there in 1890 and 1898. French also became a member of the National Academy of Design (1901), the American Academy of Arts and Letters (which awarded him the Gold Medal for Sculpture in 1917), the Architectural League, and the Accademia di San Luca, of Rome. He was a trustee of the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York City, and a co-founder of the American Academy in Rome. He was a Chevalier of the French Legion of Honor and was awarded a medal of honor from the Paris Exposition of 1900; he also was granted honorary degrees from Dartmouth, Yale, Harvard, and Columbia universities. He was a founding member of the U.S. Commission of Fine Arts, serving from 1910 to 1915, including as chairman from 1912 to 1915.
In 1917, French and a colleague, Henry Augustus Lukeman, designed the Pulitzer Prize gold medal presented to laureates. French designed the side of the prize with Benjamin Franklin on it, while Lukeman created the iconic design of the printing press and the wording on the award: "For disinterested and meritorious public service rendered by an American newspaper during the year….". In collaboration with Edward Clark Potter he modeled the George Washington statue, commissioned by a group that called itself "The Association of American Women for the Erection of a Statue of Washington in Paris" and unveiled in the Place d'Iena in Paris, France, in 1900; the General Grant statue in Fairmount Park, Philadelphia, commissioned by the Association for Public Art (formerly the Fairmount Park Art Association); and the equestrian statue of Joseph Hooker in Boston.
French was one of many sculptors who frequently employed Audrey Munson as a model; another frequent sitter was Hettie Anderson. Together with Walter Leighton Clark and others, he was also one of the founders of the Berkshire Playhouse, which later became the Berkshire Theatre Festival. French's daughter, Margaret, also occasionally modeled for him, including for some of his rare portrait paintings, and became famous in her own right as a sculptor under the name Margaret French Cresson. In 1917, Harvard's citation in conferring an honorary Master of Arts referred to his statue of Emerson when it called him "a sculptor, whose skillful hand, unlike that of the friend whom he portrayed, has not been stopped but spared to adorn our land by the creation of his art". French also taught; among his pupils was the sculptor Edith Howland.
French died in Stockbridge, Massachusetts, in 1931 at age 81. He is buried in Sleepy Hollow Cemetery, Concord.
Chesterwood, French's summer home and studio – designed by his architect friend and frequent collaborator Henry Bacon – is now a historic site owned and operated by the National Trust for Historic Preservation.
In 1940, French was selected as one of five artists to be honored in the 35-stamp "Famous Americans" series.
Chester French was an American indie band named for the artist.
"Daniel Chester French: American Sculptor" (2022) is a documentary film by Eduardo Montes-Bradley produced in association with Chesterwood and the National Trust for Historic Preservation.HD, 60 minutes.
Works
Notable public monuments
The Minute Man at the Old North Bridge in Concord, Massachusetts, (1874)
Bust of Major General William Francis Bartlett at Memorial Hall, Harvard University, (1881)
John Harvard, Harvard Yard in Cambridge, Massachusetts, (1884)
Lewis Cass, National Statuary Hall, Washington DC, (1889)
Thomas Hopkins Gallaudet and Alice Cogswell (1889), Gallaudet University, Washington, DC
Thomas Starr King monument San Francisco, California, (1891)
Statue of The Republic, the colossal centerpiece of the World's Columbian Exposition, Chicago, 1893. His 24-foot gilt-bronze reduced version made in 1918 survives in Chicago.
John Boyle O'Reilly Memorial, intersection of Boylston Street and the Fenway in Boston, Massachusetts, (1897)
Rufus Choate memorial, Old Suffolk County Court House, Boston, Massachusetts, (1898)
Richard Morris Hunt Memorial, on the perimeter wall of Central Park, at 5th Avenue at 70th Street, opposite the Frick Collection, in New York City, (1900)
Commodore George H. Perkins Monument at the New Hampshire State House, Concord, New Hampshire (1902)
Alma Mater (1903), on the campus of Columbia University in New York City
Statue of Wendell Phillips, Public Garden in Boston, Massachusetts
The Four Continents – Asia, America, Europe, and Africa, a group of four statues outside the National Museum of the American Indian at the Alexander Hamilton U.S. Custom House, Manhattan, NYC (1907)
George Robert White Memorial, Public Garden in Boston, Massachusetts
Statue of Samuel Spencer, first president of Southern Railway, located in front of Goode Building (Norfolk Southern offices) on Peachtree Street in Midtown Atlanta, Georgia, (1910)
August Meyer Memorial, 10th and The Paseo, Kansas City, Missouri (1909)
James Oglethorpe Monument, Chippewa Square, Savannah, Georgia (1910)
Standing Lincoln at the Nebraska State Capitol, Lincoln, Nebraska, (1912)
Brooklyn and Manhattan, seated figures from the Manhattan Bridge, Brooklyn Museum in Brooklyn, New York, (1915)
Minuteman, Henry Bacon designer, Jno. Williams, Inc. (NY) founder, Danville, Illinois. (1915)
The Spirit of Life, memorial to Spencer Trask, in Saratoga Springs, New York, at Congress Park, 1915
Abraham Lincoln in the Lincoln Memorial (1914–22), executed by the Piccirilli Brothers.
The Weaver, outside the Peace Dale Library in South Kingstown, Rhode Island (1919).
Marquis de Lafayette Memorial, on the perimeter of Prospect Park (Brooklyn), at 9th Street and Prospect Park West, Brooklyn, New York, (1917)
Samuel Francis du Pont Memorial Fountain, Dupont Circle, Washington DC (1921)
Alfred Tredway White Memorial, Brooklyn Botanic Garden, Henry Bacon architect (1921)
Russell Alger Memorial Fountain, Grand Circus Park, Detroit, Michigan (1921).
Marquis de Lafayette Statue, Lafayette College campus, Easton, Pennsylvania (1921).
Gale Park War Memorial & Park, Exeter, New Hampshire (1922)
Bust of Washington Irving and reliefs of Boabdil and Rip Van Winkle for the Washington Irving Memorial, Irvington, New York, (1927)
Beneficence, Ball State University in Muncie, Indiana. (1930)
William Henry Seward Memorial in Florida, New York (1930)
Death and the Wounded Soldier aka Death and Youth, The Chapel of Saint Peter and Saint Paul, St. Paul's School, Concord, New Hampshire
James Woods, "Uncle Jimmy" Green, University of Kansas, Lawrence, KS. (1924)
Gen. William Franklin Draper, Draper Memorial Park, Milford, Massachusetts. (1912)
Abraham Lincoln was an American lawyer, politician, and statesman, who served as the 16th president of the United States, from 1861 until his assassination in 1865. Lincoln led the United States through the American Civil War, defending the nation as a constitutional union, defeating the insurgent Confederacy, playing a major role in the abolition of slavery, expanding the power of the federal government, and modernizing the U.S. economy.
Lincoln was born into poverty in a log cabin in Kentucky and was raised on the frontier, mainly in Indiana. He was self-educated and became a lawyer, Whig Party leader, Illinois state legislator, and U.S. representative from Illinois. In 1849, he returned to his successful law practice in Springfield, Illinois. In 1854, he was angered by the Kansas–Nebraska Act, which opened the territories to slavery, causing him to re-enter politics. He soon became a leader of the new Republican Party. He reached a national audience in the 1858 Senate campaign debates against Stephen A. Douglas. Lincoln ran for president in 1860, sweeping the North to gain victory. Pro-slavery elements in the South viewed his election as a threat to slavery, and Southern states began seceding from the nation. During this time, the newly formed Confederate States of America began seizing federal military bases in the South. A little over one month after Lincoln assumed the presidency, Confederate forces attacked Fort Sumter, a U.S. fort in South Carolina. Following the bombardment, Lincoln mobilized forces to suppress the rebellion and restore the union.
Lincoln, a moderate Republican, had to navigate a contentious array of factions with friends and opponents from both the Democratic and Republican parties. His allies, the War Democrats and the Radical Republicans, demanded harsh treatment of the Southern Confederates. He managed the factions by exploiting their mutual enmity, carefully distributing political patronage, and by appealing to the American people. Anti-war Democrats (called "Copperheads") despised Lincoln, and some irreconcilable pro-Confederate elements went so far as to plot his assassination. His Gettysburg Address came to be seen as one of the greatest and most influential statements of American national purpose. Lincoln closely supervised the strategy and tactics in the war effort, including the selection of generals, and implemented a naval blockade of the South's trade. He suspended habeas corpus in Maryland and elsewhere, and averted British intervention by defusing the Trent Affair. In 1863, he issued the Emancipation Proclamation, which declared the slaves in the states "in rebellion" to be free. It also directed the Army and Navy to "recognize and maintain the freedom of such persons", and to receive them "into the armed service of the United States." Lincoln pressured border states to outlaw slavery, and he promoted the Thirteenth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution, which abolished slavery, except as punishment for a crime.
Lincoln managed his own successful re-election campaign. He sought to heal the war-torn nation through reconciliation. On April 14, 1865, just five days after the Confederate surrender at Appomattox, he was attending a play at Ford's Theatre in Washington, D.C., with his wife, Mary, when he was fatally shot by Confederate sympathizer John Wilkes Booth. Lincoln is remembered as a martyr and a national hero for his wartime leadership and for his efforts to preserve the Union and abolish slavery. Lincoln is often ranked in both popular and scholarly polls as the greatest president in American history.
The Lincoln Memorial is a U.S. national memorial that honors the 16th president of the United States, Abraham Lincoln. An example of neoclassicism, it is in the form of a classical temple and is located at the western end of the National Mall in Washington, D.C. Henry Bacon is the memorial's architect and Daniel Chester French designed the large interior statue of a seated Abraham Lincoln (1920), which was carved in marble by the Piccirilli brothers. Jules Guerin painted the interior murals, and the epitaph above the statue was written by Royal Cortissoz. Dedicated on May 30, 1922, it is one of several memorials built to honor an American president. It has been a major tourist attraction since its opening, and over the years, has occasionally been used as a symbolic center focused on race relations and civil rights.
Doric style columns line the temple exterior, and the inscriptions inside include two well-known speeches by Lincoln, the Gettysburg Address and his second inaugural address. The memorial has been the site of many famous speeches, including Martin Luther King Jr.'s "I Have a Dream" speech delivered on August 28, 1963, during the rally at the end of the March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom.
Like other monuments on the National Mall – including the nearby Vietnam Veterans Memorial, Korean War Veterans Memorial, and World War II Memorial – the national memorial is administered by the National Park Service under its National Mall and Memorial Parks group. It has been listed on the National Register of Historic Places since October 15, 1966, and was ranked seventh on the American Institute of Architects' 2007 list of America's Favorite Architecture. The memorial is open to the public 24 hours a day, and more than seven million people visit it annually.
The first public memorial to United States President Abraham Lincoln in Washington, D.C., was a statue by Lot Flannery erected in front of the District of Columbia City Hall in 1868, three years after Lincoln's assassination. Demands for a fitting national memorial had been voiced since the time of Lincoln's death. In 1867, Congress passed the first of many bills incorporating a commission to erect a monument for the sixteenth president. An American sculptor, Clark Mills, was chosen to design the monument. His plans reflected the nationalistic spirit of the time and called for a 70-foot (21 m) structure adorned with six equestrian and 31 pedestrian statues of colossal proportions, crowned by a 12-foot (3.7 m) statue of Abraham Lincoln. Subscriptions for the project were insufficient.
The matter lay dormant until the start of the 20th century, when, under the leadership of Senator Shelby M. Cullom of Illinois, six separate bills were introduced in Congress for the incorporation of a new memorial commission. The first five bills, proposed in the years 1901, 1902, and 1908, met with defeat because of opposition from Speaker Joe Cannon. The sixth bill (Senate Bill 9449), introduced on December 13, 1910, passed. The Lincoln Memorial Commission had its first meeting the following year and United States President William H. Taft was chosen as the commission's president. Progress continued steadily, and by 1913 Congress had approved the commission's choice of design and location.
There were questions regarding the commission's plan. Many thought architect Henry Bacon's Greek temple design was far too ostentatious for a man of Lincoln's humble character. Instead, they proposed a simple log cabin shrine. The site too did not go unopposed. The recently reclaimed land in West Potomac Park was seen by many as either too swampy or too inaccessible. Other sites, such as Union Station, were put forth. The Commission stood firm in its recommendation, feeling that the Potomac Park location, situated on the Washington Monument–Capitol axis, overlooking the Potomac River and surrounded by open land, was ideal. Furthermore, the Potomac Park site had already been designated in the McMillan Plan of 1901 to be the location of a future monument comparable to that of the Washington Monument.
With Congressional approval and a $300,000 allocation, the project got underway. On February 12, 1914, contractor M. F. Comer of Toledo, Ohio; resident member of the memorial's commission, former Senator Joseph C. S. Blackburn of Kentucky; and the memorial's designer, Henry Bacon conducted a groundbreaking ceremony by turning over a few spadefuls of earth. The following month is when actual construction began. Work progressed steadily according to schedule. Some changes were made to the plan. The statue of Lincoln, originally designed to be 10 feet (3.0 m) tall, was enlarged to 19 feet (5.8 m) to prevent it from being overwhelmed by the huge chamber. As late as 1920, the decision was made to substitute an open portal for the bronze and glass grille which was to have guarded the entrance. Despite these changes, the Memorial was finished on schedule. Commission president William H. Taft – who was then Chief Justice of the United States – dedicated the Memorial on May 30, 1922, and presented it to United States President Warren G. Harding, who accepted it on behalf of the American people. Lincoln's only surviving son, 78-year-old Robert Todd Lincoln, was in attendance. Prominent African Americans were invited to the event and discovered upon arrival they were assigned a segregated section guarded by U.S. Marines.
The Memorial was listed on the National Register of Historic Places on October 15, 1966.
The exterior of the Memorial echoes a classic Greek temple and features Yule marble quarried from Colorado. The structure measures 189.7 by 118.5 feet (57.8 by 36.1 m) and is 99 feet (30 m) tall. It is surrounded by a peristyle of 36 fluted Doric columns, one for each of the 36 states in the Union at the time of Lincoln's death, and two columns in-antis at the entrance behind the colonnade. The columns stand 44 feet (13 m) tall with a base diameter of 7.5 feet (2.3 m). Each column is built from 12 drums including the capital. The columns, like the exterior walls and facades, are inclined slightly toward the building's interior. This is to compensate for perspective distortions which would otherwise make the memorial appear to bulge out at the top when compared with the bottom, a common feature of Ancient Greek architecture.
Above the colonnade, inscribed on the frieze, are the names of the 36 states in the Union at the time of Lincoln's death and the dates in which they entered the Union. Their names are separated by double wreath medallions in bas-relief. The cornice is composed of a carved scroll regularly interspersed with projecting lions' heads and ornamented with palmetto cresting along the upper edge. Above this on the attic frieze are inscribed the names of the 48 states present at the time of the Memorial's dedication. A bit higher is a garland joined by ribbons and palm leaves, supported by the wings of eagles. All ornamentation on the friezes and cornices was done by Ernest C. Bairstow.
The Memorial is anchored in a concrete foundation, 44 to 66 feet (13 to 20 m) in depth, constructed by M. F. Comer and Company and the National Foundation and Engineering Company, and is encompassed by a 187-by-257-foot (57 by 78 m) rectangular granite retaining wall measuring 14 feet (4.3 m) in height.
Leading up to the shrine on the east side are the main steps. Beginning at the edge of the Reflecting Pool, the steps rise to the Lincoln Memorial Circle roadway surrounding the edifice, then to the main portal, intermittently spaced with a series of platforms. Flanking the steps as they approach the entrance are two buttresses each crowned with an 11-foot (3.4 m) tall tripod carved from pink Tennessee marble by the Piccirilli Brothers. There are a total of 87 steps (58 steps from the chamber to the plaza and 29 steps from the plaza to the Reflecting Pool).
The Memorial's interior is divided into three chambers by two rows of four Ionic columns, each 50 feet (15 m) tall and 5.5 feet (1.7 m) across at their base. The central chamber, housing the statue of Lincoln, is 60 feet (18 m) wide, 74 feet (23 m) deep, and 60 feet (18 m) high. The north and south chambers display carved inscriptions of Lincoln's second inaugural address and his Gettysburg Address.[Note 2] Bordering these inscriptions are pilasters ornamented with fasces, eagles, and wreaths. The inscriptions and adjoining ornamentation are by Evelyn Beatrice Longman.
The Memorial is replete with symbolic elements. The 36 columns represent the states of the Union at the time of Lincoln's death; the 48 stone festoons above the columns represent the 48 states in 1922. Inside, each inscription is surmounted by a 60-by-12-foot (18.3 by 3.7 m) mural by Jules Guerin portraying principles seen as evident in Lincoln's life: Freedom, Liberty, Morality, Justice, and the Law on the south wall; Unity, Fraternity, and Charity on the north. Cypress trees, representing Eternity, are in the murals' backgrounds. The murals' paint incorporated kerosene and wax to protect the exposed artwork from fluctuations in temperature and moisture.
The ceiling consists of bronze girders ornamented with laurel and oak leaves. Between these are panels of Alabama marble, saturated with paraffin to increase translucency. But feeling that the statue required even more light, Bacon and French designed metal slats for the ceiling to conceal floodlights, which could be modulated to supplement the natural light; this modification was installed in 1929. The one major alteration since was the addition of an elevator for the disabled in the 1970s.
Below the memorial is an undercroft. Due to water seeping through the calcium carbonate within the marble, over time stalactites and stalagmites have formed within it. During construction, graffiti was scrawled on it by workers, and is considered historical by the National Park Service. During the 1970s and 1980s, there were regular tours of the undercroft. The tours stopped abruptly in 1989 after a visitor noticed asbestos and notified the Service. For the memorial's centennial in 2022, the undercroft is planned to be open to visitors following a rehabilitation project funded by David Rubenstein.
IN THIS TEMPLE
AS IN THE HEARTS OF THE PEOPLE
FOR WHOM HE SAVED THE UNION
THE MEMORY OF ABRAHAM LINCOLN
IS ENSHRINED FOREVER
—Epitaph by Royal Cortissoz
Abraham Lincoln, by Daniel Chester French
Lying between the north and south chambers of the open-air Memorial is the central hall, which contains the large solitary figure of Abraham Lincoln sitting in contemplation. Its sculptor, Daniel Chester French, supervised the six Piccirilli brothers (Ferruccio, Attilio, Furio, Masaniello, Orazio, and Getulio) in its construction, and it took four years to complete.
The Lincoln Memorial Statue, with inscription in background
The 175-short-ton (159 t) statue, carved from Georgia white marble, was shipped in 28 pieces. Originally intended to be only 10 feet (3.0 m) tall, the sculpture was enlarged to 19 feet (5.8 m) from head to foot considering it would look small within the extensive interior space. If Lincoln were depicted standing, he would be 28 feet (8.5 m) tall.
The widest span of the statue corresponds to its height, and it rests upon an oblong pedestal of Tennessee marble 10 feet (3.0 m) high, 16 feet (4.9 m) wide, and 17 feet (5.2 m) deep. Directly beneath this lies a platform of Tennessee marble about 34.5 feet (10.5 m) long, 28 feet (8.5 m) wide, and 6.5 inches (0.17 m) high. Lincoln's arms rest on representations of Roman fasces, a subtle touch that associates the statue with the Augustan (and imperial) theme (obelisk and funerary monuments) of the Washington Mall. The statue is discretely bordered by two pilasters, one on each side. Between these pilasters, and above Lincoln's head, is engraved an epitaph of Lincoln by Royal Cortissoz.
An urban legend holds that the face of General Robert E. Lee is carved onto the back of Lincoln's head, and looks back across the Potomac toward his former home, Arlington House (now within the bounds of Arlington National Cemetery). Another popular legend is that Lincoln's hands are shown using sign language to represent his initials, his left hand signing an A and his right signing an L. The National Park Service denies both legends.
However, historian Gerald Prokopowicz writes that, while it is not clear that sculptor Daniel Chester French intended Lincoln's hands to be formed into sign language versions of his initials, it is possible that French did intend it. French was familiar with American Sign Language, and he would have had a reason to do so, to pay tribute to Lincoln for having signed the federal legislation giving Gallaudet University, a university for the deaf, the authority to grant college degrees. The National Geographic Society's publication "Pinpointing the Past in Washington, D.C." states that Daniel Chester French had a son who was deaf and that the sculptor was familiar with sign language. Historian James A. Percoco has observed that, although there are no extant documents showing that French had Lincoln's hands carved to represent the letters "A" and "L" in American Sign Language, "I think you can conclude that it's reasonable to have that kind of summation about the hands."
The Memorial has become a symbolically sacred venue, especially for the Civil Rights Movement. In 1939, the Daughters of the American Revolution refused to allow the African-American contralto Marian Anderson to perform before an integrated audience at the organization's Constitution Hall. At the suggestion of Eleanor Roosevelt, the wife of President Franklin D. Roosevelt, Harold L. Ickes, the Secretary of the Interior, arranged for a performance on the steps of the Lincoln Memorial on Easter Sunday of that year, to a live audience of 75,000 and a nationwide radio audience. On June 29, 1947, Harry Truman became the first president to address the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP). The speech took place at the Lincoln Memorial during the NAACP convention and was carried nationally on radio. In that speech, Truman laid out the need to end discrimination, which would be advanced by the first comprehensive, presidentially proposed civil rights legislation.
On August 28, 1963, the memorial grounds were the site of the March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom, which proved to be a high point of the American Civil Rights Movement. It is estimated that approximately 250,000 people came to the event, where they heard Martin Luther King Jr., deliver his historic "I Have a Dream" speech before the memorial honoring the president who had issued the Emancipation Proclamation 100 years earlier. King's speech, with its language of patriotism and its evocation of Lincoln's Gettysburg Address, was meant to match the symbolism of the Lincoln Memorial as a monument to national unity. Labor leader Walter Reuther, an organizer of the march, persuaded the other organizers to move the march to the Lincoln Memorial from the Capitol Building. Reuther believed the location would be less threatening to Congress and that the occasion would be especially appropriate underneath the gaze of Abraham Lincoln's statue. The D.C. police also appreciated the location because it was surrounded on three sides by water, so that any incident could be easily contained.
Twenty years later, on August 28, 1983, crowds gathered again to mark the 20th Anniversary Mobilization for Jobs, Peace and Freedom, to reflect on progress in gaining civil rights for African Americans and to commit to correcting continuing injustices. King's speech is such a part of the Lincoln Memorial story, that the spot on which King stood, on the landing eighteen steps below Lincoln's statue, was engraved in 2003 in recognition of the 40th anniversary of the event.
At the memorial on May 9, 1970, President Richard Nixon had a middle-of-the-night impromptu, brief meeting with protesters who, just days after the Kent State shootings, were preparing to march against the Vietnam War.
As one of the most prominent American monuments, the Lincoln Memorial is often featured in books, films, videogames, and television shows that take place in Washington; by 2003 it had appeared in over 60 films, and in 2009, Mark S. Reinhart compiled some short sketches of dozens of uses of the Memorial in film and television.
Some examples of films include Frank Capra's 1939 film Mr. Smith Goes to Washington, where in a key scene the statue and the Memorial's inscription provide inspiration to freshman Senator Jefferson Smith, played by James Stewart. The Park Service did not want Capra to film at the Memorial, so he sent a large crew elsewhere as a distraction while a smaller crew filmed Stewart and Jean Arthur inside the Memorial.
Many of the appearances of the Lincoln Memorial are actually digital visual effects, due to restrictive filming rules. As of 2017, according to the National Park Service, "Filming/photography is prohibited above the white marble steps and the interior chamber of the Lincoln Memorial."
Mitchell Newton-Matza said in 2016 that "Reflecting its cherished place in the hearts of Americans, the Lincoln Memorial has often been featured prominently in popular culture, especially motion pictures." According to Tracey Gold Bennett, "The majesty of the Lincoln Memorial is a big draw for film location scouts, producers, and directors because this landmark has appeared in a considerable number of films."
Jay Sacher writes:
From high to low, the memorial is cultural shorthand for both American ideals and 1960s radicalism. From Forrest Gump's Zelig-like insertion into anti-war rallies on the steps of the memorial, to the villainous Decepticon robots discarding the Lincoln statue and claiming it as a throne. ... The memorial's place in the culture is assured even as it is parodied.
From 1959 (the 150th anniversary of Lincoln's birth) to 2008, the memorial, with statue visible through the columns, was depicted on the reverse of the United States one-cent coin, which since 1909 has depicted a bust of Lincoln on its front.
The memorial has appeared on the back of the U.S. five-dollar bill since 1929. The front of the bill bears Lincoln's portrait.
The National Mall is a landscaped park near the downtown area of Washington, D.C., the capital city of the United States. It contains and borders a number of museums of the Smithsonian Institution, art galleries, cultural institutions, and various memorials, sculptures, and statues. It is administered by the National Park Service (NPS) of the United States Department of the Interior as part of the National Mall and Memorial Parks unit of the National Park System. The park receives approximately 24 million visitors each year.
The core area of the National Mall extends between the United States Capitol grounds to the east and the Washington Monument to the west and is lined to the north and south by several museums and a federal office building. The term National Mall may also include areas that are also officially part of neighboring West Potomac Park to the south and west and Constitution Gardens to the north, extending to the Lincoln Memorial on the west and Jefferson Memorial to the south.
Washington, D.C., formally the District of Columbia and commonly called Washington or D.C., is the capital city and federal district of the United States. The city is on the Potomac River, across from Virginia, and shares land borders with Maryland to its north and east. Washington, D.C., was named for George Washington, a Founding Father and first president of the United States. The district is named for Columbia, the female personification of the nation.
Washington, D.C., anchors the southern end of the Northeast megalopolis, one of the nation's largest and most influential cultural, political, and economic regions. As the seat of the U.S. federal government and several international organizations, the city is an important world political capital. The city had 20.7 million domestic visitors and 1.2 million international visitors, ranking seventh among U.S. cities as of 2022.
The U.S. Constitution in 1789 called for the creation of a federal district under the exclusive jurisdiction of the U.S. Congress. As such, Washington, D.C., is not part of any state, and is not one itself. The Residence Act, adopted on July 16, 1790, approved the creation of the capital district along the Potomac River. The city was founded in 1791, and the 6th Congress held the first session in the unfinished Capitol Building in 1800 after the capital moved from Philadelphia. In 1801, the District of Columbia, formerly part of Maryland and Virginia and including the existing settlements of Georgetown and Alexandria, was officially recognized as the federal district; initially, the city was a separate settlement within the larger federal district. In 1846, Congress returned the land originally ceded by Virginia, including the city of Alexandria. In 1871, it created a single municipality for the remaining portion of the district, although its locally elected government only lasted three years and elective city-government did not return for over a century. There have been several unsuccessful efforts to make the district into a state since the 1880s; a statehood bill passed the House of Representatives in 2021 but was not adopted by the U.S. Senate. Designed in 1791 by Pierre Charles L'Enfant, the city is divided into quadrants, which are centered around the Capitol Building and include 131 neighborhoods. As of the 2020 census, the city had a population of 689,545, making it the 23rd-most populous city in the U.S., third-most populous city in the Southeast after Jacksonville and Charlotte, and third-most populous city in the Mid-Atlantic after New York City and Philadelphia. Commuters from the city's Maryland and Virginia suburbs raise the city's daytime population to more than one million during the workweek. The Washington metropolitan area, which includes parts of Maryland, Virginia, and West Virginia, is the country's seventh-largest metropolitan area, with a 2023 population of 6.3 million residents.
The city hosts the U.S. federal government and the buildings that house government headquarters, including the White House, the Capitol, the Supreme Court Building, and multiple federal departments and agencies. The city is home to many national monuments and museums, located most prominently on or around the National Mall, including the Jefferson Memorial, the Lincoln Memorial, and the Washington Monument. It hosts 177 foreign embassies and serves as the headquarters for the World Bank, the International Monetary Fund, the Organization of American States, and other international organizations. Many of the nation's largest industry associations, non-profit organizations, and think tanks are based in the city, including AARP, American Red Cross, Atlantic Council, Brookings Institution, National Geographic Society, The Heritage Foundation, Wilson Center, and others.
A locally elected mayor and 13-member council have governed the district since 1973, though Congress retains the power to overturn local laws. Washington, D.C., residents are, on the federal level, politically disenfranchised since the city's residents do not have voting representation in Congress; the city's residents elect a single at-large congressional delegate to the U.S. House of Representatives who has no voting authority. The city's voters choose three presidential electors in accordance with the Twenty-third Amendment.
The District of Columbia was created in 1801 as the federal district of the United States, with territory previously held by the states of Maryland and Virginia ceded to the federal government of the United States for the purpose of creating its federal district, which would encompass the new national capital of the United States, the City of Washington. The district came into existence, with its own judges and marshals, through the District of Columbia Organic Act of 1801; previously it was the Territory of Columbia. According to specific language in the U.S. Constitution, it was 100 square miles (259 km2).
The district encompassed three small cities: Alexandria, formerly in Virginia, Georgetown, formerly Maryland, and the deliberately planned central core, the City of Washington. Both the White House and the United States Capitol were already completed and in use by 1800 as called for by the 1791 L'Enfant Plan for the City of Washington, although the city was not formally chartered until 1802. Beyond those cities, the remainder of the district was farmland organized by the 1801 Act into two counties, Washington County, D.C., on the Maryland side, and Alexandria County, D.C., on the Virginia side, encompassing today's Arlington County, Virginia, and the independent city of Alexandria.
The district was governed directly by the U.S. Congress from the beginning. Alexandria City and County were ceded back from the federal government to the commonwealth of Virginia in 1846, in a process known as retrocession, anticipating the 1850 ban on slave trading (but not slavery) in the district.
Washington and Georgetown retained their separate charters for seventy years, until the District of Columbia Organic Act of 1871. That act cancelled the charters of the towns and brought the entire area within the district borders under one district government, ending any distinction between "the District of Columbia" and "Washington", making the two terms effectively synonymous.
Main article: History of Washington, D.C. § Establishment
Congress determined, in the Residence Act of 1790, that the nation's capital be on the Potomac, between the Anacostia River and today's Williamsport, Maryland, and in a federal district up to 10 miles square. The exact location was to be determined by President George Washington, familiar with the area from his nearby home and properties at Mt. Vernon, Virginia.
Its trans-state location reflected a compromise between the Southern and Northern states. Virginia lobbied for the selection, an idea opposed by New York and Pennsylvania, both of which had previously housed the nation's capital. Maryland, whose State House was older than that of Virginia, and like Virginia a slave state, was chosen as a compromise. At Washington's request the City of Alexandria was included in the district, though with the provision that no federal buildings could be built there. The new capital district was at about the center of the country.
About 2/3 of the original district was in Maryland and 1/3 in Virginia, and the wide Potomac in the middle. The future district was surveyed in 1791–92; 24 of its surviving stone markers are in Maryland, 12 in Virginia. (See Boundary Markers of the original District of Columbia.) Washington decided that the capital's location would be located between the mouth of the Anacostia River and Georgetown, which sits at the Potomac's head of navigation.
As specified by Article One of the United States Constitution, in fact as one of the enumerated powers of section 8, Congress assumed direct administrative control of the federal district upon its creation by the District of Columbia Organic Act of 1801. There was no district governor or executive body. The U.S. House created a permanent Committee on the District of Columbia in January 1808, and the U.S. Senate established its counterpart in December 1816. These committees remained active until 1946. Thus the U.S. Congress managed the detailed day-to-day governmental needs of the district through acts of Congress—an act authorizing the purchase of fire engines and construction of a firehouse, for instance, or an act to commission three new city streets and closing two others in Georgetown.
The five component parts of the district operated their own governments at the lower level. The three cities within the district (Georgetown, the City of Washington, and Alexandria) operated their own municipal governments, each with a continuous history of mayors. Robert Brent, the first mayor of the City of Washington, was appointed directly by Thomas Jefferson in 1802 after the city's organization that year.
The remaining rural territory within the district belonged either to Alexandria County D.C., (district land west of the Potomac outside the City of Alexandria, formerly in Virginia) or to Washington County, D.C., (the unincorporated east side, formerly in Maryland, plus islands and riverbed). Both counties operated with boards of commissioners for county-level government functions. Both counties were governed by levy courts made of presidentially appointed Justices of the Peace. Prior to 1812, the levy courts had a number of members defined by the president, but after that Washington County had 7 members. In 1848, the Washington County levy court was expanded to 11 members, and in 1863 that was reduced by two to nine members.
The language of the establishing act of 1801 omitted any provision for district residents to vote for local, state-equivalent, or federal representatives.
This omission was not related to any constitutional restriction or, apparently, any rationale at all. Legal scholars in 2004 called the omission of voting rights a simple "historical accident", pointing out that the preceding Residence Act of July 16, 1790, exercising the same constitutional authority over the same territory around the Potomac, had protected the votes of the district's citizens in federal and state elections. Those citizens had indeed continued to cast ballots, from 1790 through 1800, for their U.S. House representatives and for their Maryland and Virginia state legislators. James Madison had written in the Federalist No. 43 that the citizens of the federal district should "of course" have their will represented, "derived from their own suffrages." The necessary language simply did not appear in the 1801 legislation.
The prospect of disenfranchisement caused immediate concern. One voice from a public meeting in January 1801, before the bill's passage, compared their situation to those who fought against British taxation without representation in the Revolutionary War—20 years prior. Despite these complaints the bill went into effect as written. Given exclusive and absolute political control, Congress did not act to restore any of these rights until the 1960s. The district still has no voting representation in Congress, and the decisions of its long-sought local government established in 1973 are still subject to close congressional review, annulment, and budget control.
Residents of Alexandria saw no economic advantage from being in the District. No federal buildings could be built on the south side of the Potomac, nor did they have representation in Congress. Some resistance was expressed immediately. One leading figure in the fight to retrocede through the 1820s was Thomson Francis Mason, who was elected mayor of Alexandria, D.C., four times between 1827 and 1830. Also Alexandria was a center of the profitable slave trade – the largest slave-trading company in the country, Franklin and Armfield, was located there – and Alexandria residents were afraid that if the District banned the slave trade, as seemed likely, this industry would leave the city.
To prevent this, Arlington held a referendum, through which voters petitioned Congress and the state of Virginia to return the portion of the District of Columbia south of the Potomac River (Alexandria County) to Virginia. On July 9, 1846, Congress retroceded Alexandria County to Virginia, after which the district's slave traders relocated to Alexandria. The district's slave trade was outlawed in the Compromise of 1850. The penalty for bringing a slave into the district for sale, was freedom for the slave. Southern senators and congressmen resisted banning slavery altogether in the District, to avoid setting a precedent. The practice remained legal in the district until after secession, with the District of Columbia Compensated Emancipation Act signed by Lincoln on April 16, 1862, which established the annual observance of Emancipation Day.
The District of Columbia Organic Act of 1871 created a single new district corporation governing the entire federal territory, called the District of Columbia, thus dissolving the three major political subdivisions of the district (Port of Georgetown, the City of Washington, and Washington County) and their governments. By this time the county also contained other small settlements and nascent suburbs of Washington outside its bounded limits, such as Anacostia, which had been incorporated in 1854 as Uniontown; Fort Totten, dating at least to the Civil War; and Barry Farm, a large tract bought by the Freedmen's Bureau and granted to formerly enslaved and free-born African Americans in 1867.
The newly restructured district government provided for a governor appointed by the president for a 4-year term, with an 11-member council also appointed by the president, a locally elected 22-member assembly, and a five-man Board of Public Works charged with modernizing the city. The first vice-chair of that Board of Public Works was real-estate developer Alexander Robey Shepherd, the architect and proponent of the consolidating legislation. From September 1873 to June 1874, Shepherd would serve as the second, and final, governor of the District.
The Seal of the District of Columbia features the date 1871, recognizing the year the district's government was incorporated.
WCL - Tournee Nationale 2025 - Tubize - Zafar Ameen Vs Eddie Dark
Zafar Ameen (With Sheikh Kamel) Def. (Pin) Eddie Dark
Info on the match : Encore une fois, des interventions limites ont apporte la victoire et il est decide de faire un match de championnat par equipe apres la pause.
Referee : Stefanos Karpos
Announcer : Fabrice Lrmns
( La Tournee Nationale de Catch sera presente dans votre ville pour le spectacle de catch numero 1 en Belgique! Ambiance familiale garantie!!!
World Catch League - Catch Tour 2025
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Les catcheurs professionnels de La World Catch League poseront leurs valises, pour la seconde edition , le temps d'une soiree a Tubize , le 13 /09 a la Salle Omnisports de Tubize pour deux heures de spectacle sportif qui feront vibrer petits et grands.
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The Asian black bear (Ursus thibetanus), also known as the Asiatic black bear, moon bear and white-chested bear, is a medium-sized bear species native to Asia that is largely adapted to an arboreal lifestyle. It lives in the Himalayas, southeastern Iran, the northern parts of the Indian subcontinent, the Korean Peninsula, China, the Russian Far East, the islands of Honshū and Shikoku in Japan, and Taiwan. It is listed as vulnerable on the IUCN Red List, and is threatened by deforestation and poaching for its body parts, which are used in traditional medicine.
Characteristics
The white V-shaped chest mark of an Asian black bear
The Asian black bear has black fur, a light brown muzzle, and a distinct whitish or creamy patch on the chest, which is sometimes V-shaped. Its ears are bell shaped, proportionately longer than those of other bears, and stick out sideways from the head. Its tail is short, around 11 cm (4.3 in) long. Adults measure 70–100 cm (28–39 in) at the shoulder, and 120–190 cm (47–75 in) in length. Adult males weigh 60–200 kg (130–440 lb) with an average weight of about 135 kg (298 lb). Adult females weigh 40–125 kg (88–276 lb), and large ones up to 140 kg (310 lb).
Asian black bears are similar in general build to brown bears (Ursus arctos), but are lighter and smaller. The lips and nose are larger and more mobile than those of brown bears. The skulls of Asian black bears are relatively small, but massive, particularly in the lower jaw. Adult males have skulls measuring 311.7 to 328 mm (12.27 to 12.91 in) in length and 199.5–228 mm (7.85–8.98 in) in width, while female skulls are 291.6–315 mm (11.48–12.40 in) long and 163–173 mm (6.4–6.8 in) wide. Compared to other bears of the genus Ursus, the projections of the skull are weakly developed; the sagittal crest is low and short, even in old specimens, and does not exceed more than 19–20% of the total length of the skull, unlike in brown bears, which have sagittal crests comprising up to 41% of the skull's length.
Although mostly herbivorous, the jaw structure of Asian black bears is not as specialized for plant eating as that of giant pandas: Asian black bears have much narrower zygomatic arches, and the weight ratio of the two pterygoid muscles is also much smaller in Asian black bears. The lateral slips of the temporal muscles are thicker and stronger in Asian black bears.
In contrast to polar bears, Asian black bears have powerful upper bodies for climbing trees, and relatively weak hind legs which are shorter than those in brown bears and American black bears. An Asian black bear with broken hind legs can still climb effectively. They are the most bipedal of all bears, and have been known to walk upright for over a quarter of a mile. The heel pads on the forefeet are larger than those of most other bear species. Their claws, which are primarily used for climbing and digging, are slightly longer on the fore foot (30–45 mm) than the back (18–36 mm), and are larger and more hooked than those of the American black bear.
On average, adult Asian black bears are slightly smaller than American black bears, though large males can exceed the size of several other bear species.
The famed British sportsman known as the "Old Shekarry" wrote of how an Asian black bear he shot in India probably weighed no less than 363 kg (800 lb) based on how many people it took to lift its body. The largest Asian black bear on record allegedly weighed 200 kg (440 lb). Zoo-kept specimens can weigh up to 225 kg (496 lb). Although their senses are more acute than those of brown bears, their eyesight is poor, and their hearing range is moderate, the upper limit being 30 kHz.
Taxonomy
Ancestral and sister taxa
Biologically and morphologically, Asian black bears represent the beginning of the arboreal specializations attained by sloth bears and sun bears. Asian black bears have karyotypes nearly identical to those of the five other ursine bears, and, as is typical in the genus, they have 74 chromosomes. From an evolutionary perspective, Asian black bears are the least changed of the Old World bears, with certain scientists arguing that it is likely that all other lineages of ursine bear stem from this species. Scientists have proposed that Asian black bears are either a surviving, albeit modified, form of Ursus etruscus, specifically the early, small variety of the Middle Villafranchian (Upper Pliocene to Lower Pleistocene) or a larger form of Ursus minimus, an extinct species that arose 4,000,000 years ago. With the exception of the age of the bones, it is often difficult to distinguish the remains of Ursus minimus with those of modern Asian black bears.
Asian black bears are close relatives to American black bears, with which they share a European common ancestor; the two species are thought to have diverged 3,000,000 years ago, though genetic evidence is inconclusive. Both the American and Asian black species are considered sister taxa and are more closely related to each other than to the other species of bear. The earliest known specimens of Asian black bears are known from the Early Pliocene of Moldova. The earliest American black bear fossils, which were located in Port Kennedy, Pennsylvania, greatly resemble the Asian black species. The first mtDNA study undertaken on Asian black bears suggested that the species arose after the American black bears, while a second study could not statistically resolve the branching order of sloth bears and the two black species, suggesting that these three species underwent a rapid radiation event. A third study suggested that American black bears and Asian black bears diverged as sister taxa after the sloth bear lineage and before the sun bear lineage. Further investigations on the entire mitochondrial cytochrome b sequence indicate that the divergence of continental Asian and Japanese black bear populations might have occurred when bears crossed the land bridge between the Korean peninsula and Japan 500,000 years ago, which is consistent with paleontological evidence.
Subspecies
Asian black bear subspecies
Subspecies nameCommon nameDistributionDescription
Ursus thibetanus formosanus R. Swinhoe, 1864
Formosan black bearTaiwanThis subspecies lacks the thick neck fur of other subspecies.
Ursus thibetanus gedrosianus Blanford, 1877
Balochistan black bearsouthern BalochistanA small subspecies with relatively short, coarse hair, often reddish-brown rather than black.
Ursus thibetanus japonicus Schlegel, 1857
Japanese black bearHonshū and Shikoku. Extinct on Kyushu.A small subspecies weighing 60–120 kg (130–260 lb) for the adult male and 40–100 kg (88–220 lb) for the adult female. The average body length is 1.1–1.4 m (3 ft 7 in – 4 ft 7 in). It lacks the thick neck fur of other subspecies, and has a darker snout.
Ursus thibetanus laniger Pocock, 1932
Himalayan black bearthe HimalayasDistinguished from U. t. thibetanus by its longer, thicker fur and smaller, whiter chest mark. During the summer, Himalayan black bears occur in warmer areas in Nepal, China, Siberia, and Tibet at elevations of 3,000–3,600 m (9,800–11,800 ft). For winter, they descend as low as 1,500 m (4,900 ft). On average, they measure 1.4–1.6 m (4 ft 7 in – 5 ft 3 in) from nose to tail and weigh from 90–120 kg (200–260 lb), though they may weigh as much as 181 kg (399 lb) in the fall when they are fattening up for hibernation.
Ursus thibetanus mupinensis Heude, 1901
indochinese black bearIndochinalight-colored, similar to U. t. laniger
Ursus thibetanus thibetanus Cuvier, 1823
Tibetan black bearAssam, Nepal, Myanmar, Mergui, Thailand and AnnamDistinguished from U. t. laniger by its short, thin coat with little to no underwool.
Ursus thibetanus ussuricus Heude, 1901
Ussuri black bearsouthern Siberia, northeastern China and the Korean peninsulathe largest subspecies
Until the Late Pleistocene, two further subspecies ranged across Europe and West Asia. These are U. t. mediterraneus from Western Europe and the Caucasus and U. t. permjak from Eastern Europe, particularly the Ural Mountains.
Hybrids
Asian black bears are reproductively compatible with several other bear species, and have on occasion produced hybrid offspring. According to Jack Hanna's Monkeys on the Interstate, a bear captured in Sanford, Florida, was thought to have been the offspring of an escaped female Asian black bear and a male American black bear, and Scherren's Some notes on hybrid bears published in 1907 mentioned a successful mating between an Asian black bear and a sloth bear. In 1975, within Venezuela's "Las Delicias" Zoo, a female Asian black bear shared its enclosure with a male spectacled bear, and produced several hybrid descendants. In 2005, a possible Asian black bear–sun bear hybrid cub was captured in the Mekong River watershed of eastern Cambodia. An Asian black bear/brown bear hybrid, taken from a bile farm, is housed at the Animals Asia Foundation's China Moon Bear Rescue as of 2010.
Distribution and habitat
Fossil record indicate that the Asian black bear once ranged as far west as Western Europe, though it now occurs very patchily throughout its former range, which is limited to Asia. Today, it occurs from southeastern Iran eastward through Afghanistan and Pakistan, across the foothills of the Himalayas in India and Myanmar to mainland Southeast Asia, except Malaysia. Its range in northeastern and southern China is patchy, and it is absent in much of east-central China. Other population clusters exist in the southern Russian Far East and in North Korea. A small remnant population survives in South Korea. It also occurs on the Japanese islands of Honshu and Shikoku, as well as on Taiwan and the Chinese island of Hainan.
It typically inhabits deciduous forests, mixed forests and thornbrush forests. In the summer, it usually inhabits altitudes of around 3,500 m (11,480 ft) in the Himalayas but rarely above 3,700 m (12,000 ft). In winter, it descends to altitudes below 1,500 m (4,920 ft). In Japan, it also occurs at sea level.
There is no definitive estimate as to the number of Asian black bears: Japan posed estimates of 8–14,000 bears living on Honshū, though the reliability of this is now doubted. Although their reliability is unclear, rangewide estimates of 5–6,000 bears have been presented by Russian biologists. In 2012, Japanese Ministry of the Environment estimated the population at 15–20,000. Rough density estimates without corroborating methodology or data have been made in India and Pakistan, resulting in the estimates of 7–9,000 in India and 1,000 in Pakistan. Unsubstantiated estimates from China give varying estimates between 15 and 46,000, with a government estimate of 28,000.
Bangladesh
The Wildlife Trust of Bangladesh conducted an on-field survey of bears in Bangladesh from 2008 to 2010 that included Asian black bears. The survey was done in 87 different places, mostly in the north-central, northeastern and southeastern areas of Bangladesh that had historical presence of bears. The survey result says that most of the areas still has some isolated small bear populations, mainly the Asian black bears. According to the survey, the most evidence found relating to bears were of Asian black bears that included nests, footprints, local sightings, etc. There are many reports on the presence of Asian black bears in the central, north-central, northeastern and southeastern parts of Bangladesh.
Although Asian black bears still occur in different parts of Bangladesh, mainly in the Chittagong Hill Tracts, the population is very small. Conservationists fear that the species will soon be extinct in the country if necessary steps to protect it are not taken in the near future.
China
Three subspecies of the Asian black bear occur in China: the Tibetan subspecies (U. thibetanus thibetanus), the Indochinese subspecies (U. thibetanus mupinensis), and the northeastern subspecies (U. thibetanus ussuricus), which is the only subspecies of bear in northeastern China. Asian black bears are mainly distributed in the conifer forests in the cold and temperate zones of northeast China, the main areas being Chang Bai, Zhang Guangcai, Lao Ye, and the Lesser Xingan Mountains. Within Liaoning province, there are about 100 Asian black bears, which only inhabit the five counties of Xin Bin, Huan Ren, Ben Xi, Kuan Dian, and Fen Cheng. Within Jilin province, Asian black bears occur mainly in the counties of Hunchun, Dun Hua, Wangqing, An Tu, Chang Bai, Fu Song, Jiao He, Hua Dian, Pan Shi, and Shu Lan. In Heilongjiang province, Asian black bears occur in the counties of Ning An, BaYan, Wu Chang, Tong He, Bao Qing, Fu Yuan, Yi Chun, Tao Shan, Lan Xi, Tie Li, Sun Wu, Ai Hui, De Du, Bei An, and Nen Jiang. This population has a northern boundary of about 50° N and the southern boundary in Feng Cheng is about 40°30" N.
Korea
In Korea, most of the Asian black bears live in the broad-leaved forest of the alpine region, more than 1,500 meters north of Jirisan. Korean National Park Service announced on April 15, 2018, that eight mother bears gave birth to 11 cubs. Six mother bears living in the wild gave birth to eight cubs. Two mothers that were being taken care by the nature adaptation training center in Gurye, South Jeolla Province gave birth to three cubs. Now, there are 56 Asian black bears living in the wild of Jirisan. If the Korea National Park Service releases three cubs born in natural adaptation training centers at September this year, the number of Asian black bears living in the wild will increase to 59. As a result, the restoration of the target of 50 Asian black bears, or the minimum remaining population, will be achieved two years earlier. It was a goal by 2020. Their next goal is to expand and improve the habitat and to increase the genetic diversity of the Asian black bears in Mt. Jiri.
Siberia
In Siberia, the Asian black bear's northern range runs from Innokenti Bay on the coast of the Sea of Japan southwest to the elevated areas of Sikhote Alin crossing it at the sources of the Samarga River. At this point, the boundary directs itself to the north, through the middle course of the Khor, Anyui and Khungari rivers, and comes to the shore of the Amur, crossing it at the level of the mouth of the Gorin River. Along the Amur river, the species' presence has been noted as far as 51° N. Lat. From there, the territorial boundary runs southwest of the river's left bank, passing through the northern part of Lake Bolon and the juncture point of the Kur and Tunguska. Asian black bears are encountered in the Urmi's lower course. Within the Ussuri krai, the species is restricted to broad-leaved Manchurian-type forests.
Taiwan
In Taiwan, the endemic subspecies of Asiatic Black Bear, the Formosan black bear (Ursus thibetanus formosanus), chiefly is confined to the mountain ranges in the central regions of the island. It can be found along the Central and Snow mountain ranges, with populations in the latter being more common. The largest population of bears seem to be Lala mountain in Chatienshan Reserve, the (Snow) Mountain area in Sheipa National Park, and Taroko National Park. These populations' individuals and numbers can be found south to Tawushan Reserve through Yushan National Park. Typically they are found in rugged areas at elevations of 1,000–3,500 metres (3,300–11,500 ft). The estimated number of individuals in these regions number some 200 to 600 bears.
Behavior and ecology
Asian black bears are diurnal, though they become nocturnal near human habitations. They will walk in a procession of largest to smallest. They are good climbers of rocks and trees, and will climb to feed, rest, sun, elude enemies and hibernate. Some older bears may become too heavy to climb. Half of their life is spent in trees and they are one of the largest arboreal mammals. In the Ussuri territory in the Russian Far East, Asian black bears can spend up to 15% of their time in trees. Asian black bears break branches and twigs to place under themselves when feeding on trees, thus causing many trees in their home ranges to have nest-like structures on their tops. Asian black bears will rest for short periods in nests on trees standing fifteen feet or higher.
Asian black bears do not hibernate over most of their range. They may hibernate in their colder, northern ranges, though some bears will simply move to lower elevations. Nearly all pregnant sows hibernate. Asian black bears prepare their dens for hibernation in mid-October, and will sleep from November until March. Their dens can either be dug-out hollow trees (60 feet above ground), caves or holes in the ground, hollow logs, or steep, mountainous and sunny slopes. They may also den in abandoned brown bear dens. Asian black bears tend to den at lower elevations and on less steep slopes than brown bears. Female Asian black bears emerge from dens later than do males, and female Asian black bears with cubs emerge later than barren females. Asian black bears tend to be less mobile than brown bears. With sufficient food, Asian black bears can remain in an area of roughly 1–2 km2 (0.39–0.77 sq mi), and sometimes even as little as 0.5–1 km2 (0.19–0.39 sq mi).
Asian black bears have a wide range of vocalizations, including grunts, whines, roars, slurping sounds (sometimes made when feeding) and "an appalling row" when wounded, alarmed or angry. They emit loud hisses when issuing warnings or threats, and scream when fighting. When approaching other bears, they produce "tut tut" sounds, thought to be produced by bears snapping their tongue against the roof of their mouth. When courting, they emit clucking sounds.
Reproduction and life cycle
Within Sikhote-Alin, the breeding season of Asian black bears occurs earlier than in brown bears, starting from mid-June to mid-August. Birth also occurs earlier, in mid-January. By October, the uterine horns of pregnant females grow to 15–22 mm (0.59–0.87 in). By late December, the embryos weigh 75 grams. Sows generally have their first litter at the age of three years. Pregnant females generally make up 14% of populations. Similar to brown bears, Asian black bears have delayed implantation. Sows usually give birth in caves or hollow trees in winter or early spring after a gestation period of 200–240 days. Cubs weigh 13 ounces at birth, and will begin walking at four days of age, and open their eyes three days later. The skulls of newborn Asian black bear cubs bear great resemblance to those of adult sun bears. Litters can consist of 1–4 cubs, with 2 being the average. Cubs have a slow growth rate, reaching only 2.5 kg by May. Asian black bear cubs will nurse for 104–130 weeks, and become independent at 24–36 months. There is usually a 2–3 year interval period before females produce subsequent litters. The average lifespan in the wild is 25 years, while the oldest Asian black bear in captivity died at the age of 44
Feeding
Asian black bears are omnivorous, and will feed on insects, beetle larvae, invertebrates, termites, grubs, carrion, bees, eggs, garbage, mushrooms, grasses, bark, roots, tubers, fruits, nuts, seeds, honey, herbs, acorns, cherries, dogwood, and grain. Although herbivorous to a greater degree than brown bears, and more carnivorous than American black bears, 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. 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 cones, 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. In the 1970s, Asian black bears were reported to kill and eat Hanuman langurs in Nepal. They appear to be more carnivorous than most other bears, including American black bears, and will kill ungulates with some regularity, including domestic livestock. Wild ungulate prey can include muntjacs, serow, takin, malayan tapir wild boar and adult water buffaloes, which they kill by breaking their necks.
Interspecific predatory relationships
The Asian black bear's range overlaps with that of the sloth bear in central and southern India, the sun bear in Southeast Asia and the brown bear in the southern part of the Russian Far East.
Asian black bears seem to intimidate Himalayan brown bears in direct encounters. They eat the fruit dropped by Asian black bears from trees, as they themselves are too large and cumbersome to climb.
Asian black bears are occasionally attacked by tigers and brown bears. Leopards are known to prey on bear cubs younger than two years old. Packs of wolves and Eurasian lynxes are potential predators of bear cubs as well. Asian black bears usually dominate Amur leopards in physical confrontations in heavily vegetated areas, while leopards are uppermost in open areas, though the outcome of such encounters is largely dependent on the size of the individual animals.
Ussuri brown bears may attack Asian black bears.
Tigers occasionally attack and consume Asian black bears. Russian hunters found their remains in tiger scats, and Asian black bear carcasses showing evidence of tiger predation. To escape tigers, Asian black bears rush up a tree and wait for the tiger to leave, though some tigers will pretend to leave, and wait for the bear to descend. Tigers prey foremost on young bears. Some are very tenacious when attacked: Jim Corbett observed a fight between a tiger and the largest Asian black bear he had ever seen. The bear managed to chase off the tiger, despite having half its nose and scalp torn off. He twice saw Asian black bears carry off tiger kills when the latter was absent. Asian black bears are usually safe from tiger attacks once they reach five years of age. One fatal attack of a tiger on a juvenile Asian black bear has been recorded in Jigme Dorji National Park. One Siberian tiger was reported to have lured an Asian black bear by imitating its mating call. However, Asian black bears are probably less vulnerable to tiger attacks than brown bears, due to their habit of living in hollows or in close set rocks.
Legal status
The Asian black bear is listed as a protected animal in China's National Protection Wildlife Law, which stipulates that anyone hunting or catching bears without permits will be subject to severe punishment.
Although the Asian black bear is protected in India, due to being listed as vulnerable in the Red Data Book in Appendix I of CITES in India and in Schedule I of the Indian Wildlife (Protection) Act and its 1991 amendment, it has been difficult to prosecute those accused of poaching Asian black bears due to lack of witnesses and lack of Wildlife Forensic Labs to detect the originality of confiscated animal parts or products. Moreover, due to India's wide-stretching boundaries with other nations such as Pakistan, Tibet, China, Nepal, Bhutan, Bangladesh and Myanmar, it is difficult to police such borders, which are often in mountainous terrain.
Five Asian black bear populations, occurring in Kyushu, Shikoku, West-Chugoku, East-Chugoku and Kii areas, were listed as endangered by the Environmental Agency in the Japanese Red Data Book in 1991. Small isolated populations in the Tanzawa and Shimokita areas of mainland Honshū were listed as endangered in 1995. Beyond recognizing these populations as endangered, there is still a lack of efficient conservation methods for Japanese black bears.
Asian black bears occur as an infrequent species in the Red Data Book of Russia, thus falling under special protection and hunting is prohibited. There is currently a strong movement to legalize the hunting of Russian black bears, which is supported by most of the local scientific community.
As of January 30, 1989, Taiwan's Formosan black bears have been listed as an endangered species under the Natural and Cultural Heritage Act on, and was later listed as a Conserved Species Category I.
The Vietnamese government issued Decision 276/QD, 276/1989, which prohibits the hunting and exporting of Asian black bears. The Red Book of Vietnam lists Vietnamese black bears as endangered.
The Korean Government designated the Asian black bear as Natural Monument No. 329 and it is considered an extinction crisis. At the present time, the Endangered Species Restoration Center of Korea National Park Service is going through species restoration business.
Threats
The main habitat threat to Asian black bears is overcutting of forests, mainly due to human populations increasing to over 430,000 in regions where bears are distributed, in the Shaanxi, Ganshu, and Sichuan provinces. 27 forestry enterprises were built in these areas between 1950 and 1985 (excluding the lumbering units belonging to the county). By the early 1990s, the Asian black bear distribution area was reduced to only one-fifth of the area that existed before the 1940s. Isolated bear populations face environmental and genetic stress in these circumstances. However, one of the most important reasons for their decrease involves overhunting, as Asian black bear paws, gall bladders and cubs have great economic value. Asian black bear harvests are maintained at a high level due to the harm they cause to crops, orchards and bee farms. During the 1950s and 1960s, 1,000 Asian black bears were harvested annually in the Heilongjiang Province. However, purchased furs were reduced by 4/5, even by 9/10 yearly in the late 1970s to the early 1980s. Asian black bears have also been declining annually in Dehong Dai and Jingpo Nations Autonomous Prefecture and the Yunnan Province.
Poaching for gall bladders and skin are the main threats faced by Asian black bears in India.
Although the poaching of Asian black bears is well known throughout Japan, authorities have done little to remedy the situation. The killing of nuisance bears is practiced year-round, and harvest numbers have been on the increase. Box traps have been widely used since 1970 to capture nuisance bears. It is estimated that the number of shot bears will decrease in time, due to the decline of old traditional hunters and the increase of a younger generation less inclined to hunt. Logging is also considered a threat.
Although Asian black bears have been afforded protection in Russia since 1983, illegal poaching, fueled by a growing demand for bear parts in the Asian market, is still a major threat to the Russian population. Many workers of Chinese and Korean origin, supposedly employed in the timber industry, are actually involved in the illegal trade. Some Russian sailors reportedly purchase bear parts from local hunters to sell them to Japanese and Southeast Asian clients. Russia's rapidly growing timber industry has been a serious threat to the Asian black bear's home range for three decades. The cutting of trees containing cavities deprives Asian black bears of their main source of dens, and forces them to den on the ground or in rocks, thus making them more vulnerable to tigers, brown bears and hunters.
In Taiwan, Asian black bears are not actively pursued, though steel traps set out for wild boars have been responsible for unintentional bear trappings. Timber harvesting has largely stopped being a major threat to Taiwan's Asian black bear population, though a new policy concerning the transfer of ownership of hill land from the government to private interests has the potential to affect some lowland habitat, particularly in the eastern part of the nation. The building of new cross island highways through bear habitat is also potentially threatening.
Vietnamese black bear populations have declined rapidly due to the pressures of human population growth and unstable settlement. Vietnamese forests have been shrinking: of the 87,000 km2 (34,000 sq mi) of natural forests, about 1,000 km2 (390 sq mi) disappear every year. Hunting pressures have also increased with a coinciding decline of environmental awareness.
South Korea remains one of two countries to allow bear bile farming to continue legally. As reported in 2009, approximately 1,374 Asian black bears reside in an estimated 74 bear farms, where they are kept for slaughter to fuel the demands of traditional Asian medicine. In sharp contrast, fewer than 20 Asian black bears can be found at Jirisan Restoration Center, located in Korea's Jirisan National Park.
Relationships with humans
In Japanese culture, the Asian black bear is traditionally associated with the mountain spirit (yama no kami) and is characterized variously as "mountain man" (yamaotoko), "mountain uncle" (yama no ossan), "mountain father" (yama no oyaji), a loving mother, and a child. Being a largely solitary creature, the Asian black bear is also viewed as "lonely person" (sabishigariya). Asian black bears feature very little in lowland Japanese folklore, but are prominent in upland Japan, a fact thought to reflect the bear's greater economic value in upland areas. According to the local folklore in Kituarahara-gun in Niigata, the Asian black bear received its white mark after being given a silk-wrapped amulet by yama no kami, which left the mark after being removed. In Hindu mythology, the Asian black bear Jambavantha (also known as Jambavan or Jamvanta) is believed to have lived from Treta Yuga to Dvapara Yuga. In the epic Ramayana, Jambavantha assists Rama in finding his wife Sita and battle her abductor, Ravana.
Asian black bears are briefly mentioned in Yann Martel's novel The Life of Pi, in which they are described by the protagonist's father as being among the most dangerous animals in his zoo.
Although usually shy and cautious animals, Asian black bears are more aggressive towards humans than the brown bears of Eurasia and American black bears. David W. Macdonald theorizes that this greater aggression is an adaptation to being sympatric with tigers. According to Brigadier General R. G. Burton:
The Himalayan black bear is a savage animal, sometimes attacking without provocation, and inflicting horrible wounds, attacking generally the head and face with their claws, while using their teeth also on a prostrate victim. It is not uncommon to see men who have been terribly mutilated, some having the scalp torn from the head, and many sportsmen have been killed by these bears.
— A Book of Man Eaters, Chapter XVII Bears
In response to a chapter on Asian black bears written by Robert Armitage Sterndale in his Natural History of the Mammalia of India and Ceylon on how Asian black bears were no more dangerous than other animals in India, a reader responded with a letter to The Asian on May 11, 1880:
Mr Sterndale, in the course of his interesting papers on the Mammalia of British India, remarks of Ursus Tibetanus, commonly known as the Himalayan Black Bear, that 'a wounded one will sometimes show fight, but in general it tries to escape.' This description is not, I think, quite correct. As it would lead one to suppose that this bear is not more savage than any other wild animal—the nature of most of the feræ being to try to escape when wounded, unless they see the hunter who has fired at them, when many will charge at once, and desperately. The Himalayan Black Bear will not only do this almost invariably, but often attacks men without any provocation whatever, and is altogether about the most fierce, vicious, dangerous brute to be met with either in the hills or plains of India. [...] These brutes are totally different in their dispositions to the Brown Bear (Ursus Isabellinus), which, however desperately wounded, will never charge. I believe there is no case on record of a hunter being charged by a Brown Bear; or even of natives, under any circumstances, being attacked by one; whereas every one of your readers who has ever marched in the Himalayas must have come across many victims of the ferocity of Ursus Tibetanus.
At the turn of the 20th century, a hospital in Srinagar, Kashmir received dozens of Asian black bear victims annually. When Asian black bears attack humans, they rear up on their hind legs and knock victims over with their front paws. Then they bite them on an arm or leg and snap on the victim's head, this being the most dangerous part of the attack. Asian black bear attacks have been increasing in Kashmir since the Kashmir conflict. In November 2009, in the Kulgam district of Indian-administered Kashmir, an Asian black bear attacked four insurgents after discovering them in its den, and killed two of them.
In India, attacks on humans have been increasing yearly, and have occurred largely in the northwestern and western Himalayan region. In the Chamba District of Himachal Pradesh, the number of Asian black bear attacks on humans has gradually increased from 10 in 1988–89 to 21 in 1991–92. There are no records of predation on humans by Asian black bears in Russia, and no conflicts have been documented in Taiwan. Recent Asian black bear attacks on humans have been reported from Junbesi in Langtang National Park, Nepal, and occurred in villages as well as in the surrounding forest.
Nine people were killed by Asian black bears in Japan between 1979 and 1989. In September 2009, an Asian black bear attacked a group of tourists, mauling nine people and seriously injuring four more at a bus station in the built-up area of Takayama, Gifu. The majority of attacks tend to occur when Asian black bears are encountered suddenly, and in close quarters. Because of this, Asian black bears are generally considered more dangerous than brown bears, which live in more open spaces and are thus less likely to be surprised by approaching humans. They are also likely to attack when protecting food.
2016 saw several attacks by Asian black bears in Japan. In May and June four people were killed by Asian black bears in Akita prefecture while picking bamboo shoots, and in August a female safari park worker in Gunma prefecture was killed when an Asian black bear climbed into her car and attacked her.
Livestock predation and crop damage
In the past, the farmers of the Himalayan lowlands feared Asian black bears more than any other pest, and would erect platforms in the fields, where watchmen would be posted at night and would beat drums to frighten off any interlopers. However, some Asian black bears would grow accustomed to the sound and encroach anyway.
Of 1,375 livestock kills examined in Bhutan, Asian black bears accounted for 8% of attacks. Livestock predation, overall, was greatest in the summer and autumn periods, which corresponded with a peak in cropping agriculture; livestock are turned out to pasture and forest during the cropping season and, subsequently, are less well-guarded than at other times.
Livestock killed by Asian black bears in Himachal Pradesh, India increased from 29 in 1988–1989 to 45 in 1992–1993.
In the remoter areas of Japan, Asian black bears can be serious crop predators: the bears feed on cultivated bamboo shoots in spring, on plums, watermelons and corn in the summer, and on persimmons, sweet potatoes and rice in the autumn. Japanese black bears are estimated to damage 3,000 bee hives annually. When feeding on large crops such as watermelons or pumpkins, Asian black bears will ignore the flesh and eat the seeds, thus adversely affecting future harvests. Asian black bears can girdle and kill trees by stripping their bark for the sap. This can cause serious economic problems in Asia's valuable timber forests. In the late 1970s, 400–1,200 hectares of land had been affected by Asian black bears bark-stripping Japanese conifers. There is evidence that 70-year-old conifers (commanding the highest market values) may also have been bark-stripped.
Asian black bears will prey on livestock if their natural food is in poor supply. They have been known to attack bullocks, either killing them outright, or eating them alive.
Tameability and trainability
Along with sun bears, Asian black bears are the most typically used species in areas where bears are used either in performances or as pets. Asian black bears have an outstanding learning ability in captivity, and are among the most common species used in circus acts. According to Gary Brown:
The Asiatic black bears are the comedians of the performing bears. They appear to appreciate applause and will intentionally move into their prescribed position late to attain laughter and attention. — Brown, The Influence of Bears on Humans
Asian black bears are easily tamed, and can be fed with rice, maize, sweet potatoes, cassavas, pumpkins, ripe fruit, animal fat and sweet foods. Keeping captive Asian black bears is popular in China, especially due to the belief that milking the bear's gall bladder leads to quick prosperity. Asian black bears are also popular as pets in Vietnam.
Hunting
An Asian black bear hunt, as illustrated by Samuel Howitt
According to The Great and Small Game of India, Burma, and Tibet, regarding the hunting of Asian black bears in British India:
Black bear stalking in the forests bordering the valley of Kashmir requires much more care than is expended in approaching brown bear on the open hills above, the senses of sight and hearing being more strongly developed in the black than in the brown species. Many of these forests are very dense, so that it requires the eye of an experienced shikari [hunter] to detect the dark forms of the bears while searching for chestnuts on the ground without the advancing party being detected by the vigilant animals.
— The Great and Small Game of India, Burma, and Tibet p. 367
The book also describes a second method of black bear hunting involving the beating of small patches of forest, when the bears march out in single file. However, black bears were rarely hunted for sport, because of the poor quality of their fur and the ease by which they could be shot in trees, or stalked, as their hearing was poor.
Black bears here afford no sport; it is not shooting at all, it is merely potting a black thing in a tree... I can assure the reader that if he has a fondness for stalking, he will despise bear-killing, and will never shoot at them if there is a chance of anything else. If a man were to hunt for nothing else but bears, and kill a hundred in his six months' leave, he would not have enjoyed such real sport as he would, had he killed ten buck ibex or markhoor.
Although easy to track and shoot, Asian black bears were known by British sportsmen to be extremely dangerous when injured. Brigadier General R.G. Burton wrote of how many sportsmen had been killed by Asian black bears after failing to make direct hits.
Today, Asian black bears are only legally hunted for sport in Japan and Russia. In Russia, 75–100 Asian black bears are legally harvested annually, though 500 a year are reportedly harvested illegally.
After the introduction of Buddhism in Japan, which prohibited the killing of animals, the Japanese compromised by devising different strategies in hunting bears. Some, such as the inhabitants of the Kiso area in the Nagano Prefecture, prohibited the practice altogether, while others developed rituals in order to placate the spirits of killed bears. In some Japanese hunting communities, Asian black bears lacking the white chest mark are considered sacred. In the Akita Prefecture, bears lacking the mark were known by matagi huntsmen as minaguro (all-black) or munaguro (black-chested), and were also considered messengers of yama no kami. If such a bear was shot, the huntsman would offer it to yama no kami, and give up hunting from that time on. Similar beliefs were held in Nagano, where the completely black Asian black bears were termed nekoguma or cat-bear. Matagi communities believed that killing an Asian black bear in the mountains would result in a bad storm, which was linked to the belief that bear spirits could affect weather. The matagi would generally hunt Asian black bears in spring or from late autumn to early winter, before they hibernated. In mountain regions, Asian black bears were hunted by driving them upland to a waiting hunter, who would then shoot it. Bear hunting expeditions were preceded by rituals, and could last up to two weeks. After killing the bear, the matagi would pray for the bear's soul. Asian black bear hunts in Japan are often termed kuma taiji, meaning "bear conquest". The word taiji itself is often used in Japanese folklore to describe the slaying of monsters and demons.
Traditionally, the Atayal, Taroko, and Bunun people of Taiwan consider Asian black bears to be almost human in their behaviors, and thus unjust killing of bears is equated with murder and will cause misfortunes such as disease, death, or crop failure. The Bunun people call Asian black bears Aguman or Duman, which means devil. Traditionally, a Bunun hunter who has accidentally trapped an Asian black bear has to build a cottage in the mountains and cremate the bear within it. The hunter must stay in the cottage alone, away from the village until the end of the millet harvest, as it is believed that the killing of an Asian black bear will cause the millet crop to burn black. In the Tungpu area, Asian black bears are considered animals of the "third category": animals with the most remote relationship to humans and whose activity is restricted outside human settlements. Therefore, when Asian black bears encroach upon human settlements, they are considered ill omens. In this situation, the community can either destroy the trespassing bears or settle somewhere else. The Rukai and Paiwan people are permitted to hunt Asian black bears, though they believe that doing so will curse the hunters involved: Rukai people believe that hunting Asian black bears can result in disease. Children are forbidden from eating bear meat, which is itself not permitted to be taken within homes.
Products
Asian black bears have been hunted for their body parts in China since the Stone Age. In the 19th century, its fur was considered of low value. Grease was the only practical use for their carcasses in British India, and bears living near villages were considered ideal, as they were almost invariably fatter than forest-dwelling ones. In the former USSR, the Asian black bear yielded fur, meat and fat of greater quality than those of the brown bear. Today, bile is in demand, as it supposedly cures various diseases, treats the accumulation of blood below the skin, and counters toxic effects. Products also include bone 'glue' and fat, both used in traditional medicine and consumed as a tonic. Asian black bear meat is also edible.
I'm way over the daily mb limit, only 60% uploaded.
Birds lineup: Cormorants & Great White Egrets, Pileated Woodpecker, Turkey Vultures, Summer Tanager (female), Chipping Sparrow, Baltimore Oriole, Wood Ducks, American Coots, Wood Duck (male), Eastern Phoebe, Pine Warbler, Eastern Bluebird, Great White Egret, Brown Nuthatch, Yellow-bellied Sapsucker, Brown Thrasher, Eastern Kingbird (female), Red-bellied woodpecker, Anhingas, Cormorants, Roseate Spoonbill, Mississippi kite, Ruby-throated hummingbird, Red-headed woodpecker, Cedar waxwing, GWE's.
Cameras used: Canon 60D, Fujifilm S1
Staff Sgt. Jeffery Daum leads his military working dog, Zuzu, through an obstacle course April 12, 2014, during a demonstration at Eglin Air Force Base, Fla. Daum is a member of the 96th Security Forces Squadron. (U.S. Air Force photo by Samuel King Jr./Released)
Sky is the limit for one of the first female Apache pilots
www.army.mil/article/227154/sky_is_the_limit_for_one_of_t...
Leslie Herlick was the first female warrant officer in her battalion after being assigned to 2nd Battalion, 101st Aviation Regiment, 101st Airborne Division (Air Assault). She went to flight school after the ban against women flying combat helicopters was lifted 26 years ago.
FORT CAMPBELL, Ky. -- When she joined the Army, Leslie Herlick was too short to join the Military Police.
But sitting in the cockpit of an AH-64 Apache attack helicopter several years later, she could be as tall as she wanted.
Herlick is now the training resource coordinator for Fort Campbell's Directorate of Plans, Training, Mobilization and Security. She doesn't talk about her past very much and many who know her have no idea that she was among the first women to take to the skies after Congress lifted a restriction that kept women from flying combat helicopters.
That was in 1993.
Herlick saw an ad in the Army Times looking for women to apply for flight school and decided that's what she wanted to do. It never occurred to her that she might not be accepted.
"I've always liked to do things that maybe other people say they want to do, but I do them," Herlick said. "I'm willing to try."
Then assigned to 1st Psychological Operations Battalion, Fort Bragg, North Carolina, the 23-year-old was selected for Warrant Officer Candidate School before attending flight school from the fall 1994 to May 1995 at Fort Rucker, Alabama.
While many of the other students had experience working with motors or even servicing aircraft, Herlick had a lot to learn. And she did.
She learned to fly using instruments, tactic and night vision goggles. She trained on simulators and in small bird TH-67 training helicopters, Huey utility helicopters and OH-58 Kiowa utility choppers.
After getting their wings, graduates were asked to select the helicopters they most wanted to fly.
Herlick selected the Apache and based on her grades and performance, she got her wish.
She spent more time learning to shoot Hellfire missiles and everything else she needed to know. Her young son learned all the parts of helicopters along with her as Herlick studied through November 1995.
"He grew up with mom doing that stuff, so it was never a big deal to him," she said. "He'll tell me now, 'I didn't realize the stuff you did,' because it was normal to him."
Proving herself
Herlick's first duty station as a pilot was 2nd Battalion, 101st Aviation Regiment, 101st Airborne Division (Air Assault).
She was the first female warrant officer in her battalion. Because being a woman in PsycOps was so common, Herlick didn't realize that for some it would make a difference.
"Some of the pilots had never worked with women before," she said. "I really had to prove myself more than a new male coming in. It wasn't enough to be just as good as them. I had to be better."
But Herlick isn't one to back down from a challenge.
"It took a lot of months and hard work to show them I was one of them," she said.
Pilot in command
Herlick shies away from being called a "pioneer." She points out she wasn't the first woman to fly an Apache helicopter and those women who came after her deserve more credit than she does because they flew in combat.
Herlick did win the acceptance of the men who doubted her and three years after being stationed in Fort Campbell she worked her way from the front seat of the helicopter as a co-pilot gunner to the back seat where she was the pilot in command.
In February 1999 she as assigned to the 1st Armored Division, 501st, and stationed in Germany.
She flew a NATO peacekeeping mission in Kosovo in 2000.
In October of that year she spent some of her time on the ground talking to women who didn't have the same rights as American women. They shared their stories of devastation and loss. Herlick and several other military women shared their stories of empowerment.
She would later go on to other careers that allowed her to help women, veterans and children.
11 days after 9/11
Herlick was just 11 days away from giving birth to her second son when Sept. 11, 2001, changed the trajectory of the United States Army.
She had already submitted her resignation and flying combat missions was no longer an option. She says the women who did are the ones who deserve recognition.
"I had already planned to get out because I wanted to be able to raise my kids and see my kids grow up and take them to football practice and softball," Herlick said.
In the ensuing years she had several careers.
She worked at Survivor Outreach, providing support for Gold Star Families. She was a victim advocate for the Army's Sexual Harassment/Assault Response and Prevention Program, providing support for sexual assault victims and helping them through the process of reporting assaults to the military. She worked at a Department of Veterans Affairs call center, providing veterans and Families with information to help them get benefits and guide them through the process.
Herlick also earned bachelor's and master's degrees and decided to become a teacher. She taught second, third and fifth grades at Sango Elementary School in the Clarksville-Montgomery County School System.
Career opportunities led her back to Fort Campbell in 2014.
Coming full circle
Herlick's Army career began right out of high school when she left the Detroit area behind.
At 5-foot-4 "and a half" she was just shy of the height she needed to pursue her first career choice in military law enforcement, but she knew she wanted to be airborne.
After basic training, she went to Fort Bragg for advanced individual training and attended airborne school at Fort Benning, Georgia. She became a jumpmaster, with 42 jumps over her career.
Herlick started work in PsyOps, "winning the hearts and minds of the enemy" in 1989 and took part in Operation Just Cause in Panama in December of that year.
She was disappointed that she couldn't jump or be with the combat units because she was a woman and eventually the desire for more freedom led Herlick apply for flight school.
She was still a pilot in command when she left the Army and while there are few visible reminders of that past in her office at division headquarters, it's always a part of her.
Now her presence is felt in a different way.
Herlick helps plan and carry out training, looks at needs and comes up with ways to address them.
She doesn't waste time wondering what her life may have been like if she were a little taller or dwell too much on things she has done. She's too busy looking ahead.
"That was a long time ago," Herlick said. "I'm more about what I'm doing now."