Derivation and molecular phylogenetic analysis of “bear’s hands” in Takachiho Town, Miyazaki Prefecture — DNA analysis of Japanese black bear on the Sobo Mountain Range, Kyushu Is.

Genetic characteristics of the poorly known Kyushu population of Asiatic black bears (Ursus thibetanus), were investigated using mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) analysis of the “bear’s hands” stored by the Fujino and Sato families at Takachiho, Miyazaki Prefecture. The mtDNA control region (648 bp; haplotype: KU01) was successfully analyzed in the Sato family-derived sample that, according to in-person interviews, was presumed to have resulted from a capture in the Sobo Mountains during the mid-Meiji and early-Taisho eras. Along with the previous data, these results suggest that the allegedly extinct Kyushu population may have formed a unique local population that was genetically distinct from other bear populations in Japan