Bears and sheep are together, Mongolian herdsmen have been grazing for three years, and it turns out that this bear is more precious than the panda
When my friend had just returned from a trip to the Mongolian People's Republic, he showed me a rare Chinese-language newspaper, Mongolian News. A striking story appeared in the newspaper: "Desert pasture wonder, herdsmen have lived in harmony with mysterious bears and sheep for three years!".”
This seemingly unbelievable scene took place in a desert pasture in the Great Gobi of the Gobi Altai Province in Mongolia. According to reports, one morning, the herdsman Bagan drove his sheep out of the pen, and suddenly found a big guy with brown coat and rolling meat in the flock. This massive creature is fatter than any other sheep and walks with the flock, neither intimate nor repulsive. 
The old man couldn't wait to get closer, and was surprised to find that it was actually a bear!He couldn't help but wonder, what the hell was going on?Is it a wolf?But the wolf's coat color is not like this. Moreover, sheep have a natural fear of wolves.
Old man Bagan tried to divide the flock, counting the sheep one by one to see how much the bear had eaten. However, to his surprise, after two close inspections, not a single sheep was missing, even the lamb that had just been born for a few days.
Old Bagan was puzzled: "No wonder the sheep have no fear of it, it turns out that it does not threaten my sheep." But the bear is in the flock, and sooner or later it will become its meal. Perhaps the bear deliberately blended in with the flock and enjoyed it at a leisurely pace later. "This bizarre and harmonious scene is an eye-opener.
The bear chose to be with the sheep, but old Bagan couldn't get rid of it despite his best efforts.
Old Bagan resolutely did not allow bears to eat sheep. Wielding his wolf-beating stick, he gave a harsh lesson, and finally drove the big creature away from the flock, drove it away, and even shot the bear in the air.
Old Bagen understood that this was the "national bear" of Mongolia, and he did not dare to kill it. , he felt strange that this bear was not fierce and did not fight him!Considering that this huge bear, once it becomes ferocious, he may not be able to beat it himself!
What was even more unexpected for Lao Bagen was that the next day he found that the big guy had come uninvited again. When he drove the sheep out of the pen, he was surprised to find that the bear was following the sheep out in a graceful way!
The uneasiness in Old Bagen's heart gradually heated up, this bear is not afraid of a gun?He hurriedly checked the number of sheep, but there were still many of them!
Old Bagan didn't trust the bear, and still beat it away. However, strangely, the bear was chased away for five days in a row and shot five times into the sky above the bear, but each time it was found with the sheep the next day. The number of sheep was checked again and double-checked, and the sheep were still intact.
Isn't this really a bear?Why doesn't it threaten sheep?The more he thought about it, the more confused and frightened he became. His mental state was on the verge of collapse. In desperation, he had to seek help from experts.
It turned out that the bears that Lao Bagen grazed were Gobi bears, a kind of bear that is more precious than the Chinese panda.
What exactly is a Gobi bear?
Popular Science China. "The Gobi bear is the only bear species in the world that lives in the desert, mainly in southwestern Mongolia. This brown bear is similar to the North American grizzly bear, but is adapted to the arid environment of the Gobi Desert. ”
The Gobi bear is extinct in other parts of the world and has twice been listed as an endangered animal. There are three reasons for the decline in the Gobi bear population:
First of all, the endangered status of the Gobi bear is closely related to the deterioration of its habitat, especially the special living environment in the Gobi Desert.
Secondly, the reproductive habits of the Gobi bear are also one of the reasons for its endangerment. This bear has a long reproductive cycle, only giving birth once every two years, and only one cub per litter, forming the characteristics of single generation transmission, and the survival rate of cubs is quite low.
Third, blind poaching has also had a great impact on the endangerment of Gobi bears. In the past few decades, Gobi bears have been hunted in large numbers due to people's pursuit of the highest value of bear bile and are regarded as harmful pests to livestock and poultry. This frenzy of poaching has accelerated the decline of the Gobi bear population, creating a crisis.
It used to be the "national bear" of Mongolia, and in the 50s of the last century, the number of Gobi bears exceeded 1,000;But by the early 90s, only 22 remained, including 14 male bears and 8 female bears, and they were on the verge of extinction.
In an interview with Xinhua News Agency on June 1, 2022, Mongolia's Minister of Natural Environment and Tourism Bad Erden said that with the support of China, the population of Gobi bears has exceeded 50 and reached 51.
Gobi Altai Province: The last habitat of the Gobi bear
It is located in the Gobi Altai Province in the west of Mongolia, and is connected to the Alxa League of Inner Mongolia in China, Jiuquan City in Gansu Province, and Hami City in Xinjiang in the south. The total land area of the province is 14140,000 square kilometers.
The climate of the Gobi Altai province is dry, semi-desert and desert grasslands are widely distributed, and there is an abundance of pasture species. It is not only the habitat of the Gobi bear, but also the habitat of other rare animals such as wild asses, wild camels, wild horses, wild goats, antelopes, black-tailed yellow sheep, argali, lynx, leopards, silver rats, etc.
Studies have shown that globally, the desert areas of Mongolia's Gobi Altai province are the only home for Gobi bears.
The wonderful symbiosis of the king of bears and sheep
There are many interdependent symbiotic relationships between animals on Earth, where one provides the other with the help they need to survive, and in the process is supported by the other. This interdependent symbiosis allows two organisms to coexist in harmony, and if separated from each other, it can lead to one or both of them not being able to survive.
As to whether there was such a symbiotic relationship between the Gobi bear and Lao Bagen's sheep, Lao Bagen began to have questions. According to experts, there does not seem to be a significant interdependence between the bear and the sheep, and it is puzzling how they achieve symbiosis with each other
When the local herders learned that a strange bear had appeared in Lao Bagen's flock, and that the two could coexist peacefully, they were all very curious: why didn't this bear eat sheep?
In Mongolia, this situation has caused widespread discussion. The herders who witnessed the bear living peacefully with the old Bagan sheep thought that the bear might have gotten lost and inadvertently intruded into the flock, and then adapted there and became friends with each other, just as dogs, cats, chickens and ducks in the family yard can live in peace. 
Some netizens have put forward a different opinion, arguing that the Gobi bear population is small and it may be difficult to find a companion in the vast Gobi Desert. Perhaps the bear is feeling lonely and wants to find a companion to alleviate it, and the sheep's docility caters to its needs.
Zoologists have come up with a more sober theory, suggesting that the Gobi bear may have been forced to come here to forage for food due to the lack of food resources due to the arid surrounding environment.
What are the eating habits of Gobi bears?
Old Bagen has always been distressed by this Gobi bear that cannot be driven away and does not dare to do it easily. Experts say that the bear may have come to the flock in search of food, so the elder Bargan decided to take a closer look at the bear's eating habits. After all, it had been in the flock for two months, but it had done nothing for the sheep. Is it born vegan?
Old Bagen's sheep feed on grass and walk along the meadow. However, Gobi bears are not interested in grass at all.
After a long period of careful observation, the old Bagen found that the sheep were gnawing on the grass on the ground, while the Gobi bear was concentrating on digging the roots of a certain plant. In addition, those berries that grow on the branches and stems of the plant also seem to be a favorite of the Gobi bear.
In addition, Gobi bears are also interested in insects such as grasshoppers jumping on the ground and mole crickets underground, and they have become a delicious treat for Gobi bears.
After a long period of stalking, the elder Bagan finally revealed a secret: although the Gobi bear does not eat mutton, it loves rat meat.
If the Gobi bear spotted a rat running quickly across the steppe, it would chase it with joy like a mischievous child. Once it catches up, it slaps the ground with its slap, catches the rat, and swallows it happily, which is sweeter than a child eating candy. 
When the rats hide in their holes, the Gobi bears will sit patiently at the mouth of the hole, staring at the hole. When the rats in the cave heard that it was quiet outside, they couldn't help but pop out of the hole and were slapped to death by the Gobi bear, and then swallowed to enjoy the deliciousness.
Gobi bears can sometimes seem impatient to catch mice. If it is impatient, it will not wait at the entrance of the hole, but will wave its claws and dig the rat hole violently, quickly opening the hole, grabbing the rat and sending it into its mouth.
Some experts point out that a Gobi bear preys on at least 2,000 mice every year!
Do Gobi bears hibernate?
In the cold regions of the north, bears usually hibernate and Gobi bears are no exception. Since the temperature in the Gobi Altai region can drop to minus thirty or forty degrees in winter, they choose to hibernate in the cold winter.
The elder Bagen observed that whenever the cold winter was about to fall, the Gobi bear would often leave the sheep and go alone to a ravine with a leeward sunrise, where they would choose a slope that would be the most sheltered from the wind and the sun, and start digging a burrow.
It turns out that the Gobi Bear is an expert at digging holes!It wasn't long before it was able to dig a hole just enough to accommodate itself comfortably on its stomach. The Gobi bear then gets some weeds and even wool into the hole and lays it into a bed.
When the snow falls, the Gobi bear will reluctantly say goodbye to the sheep and walk to its own bear nest alone. At the entrance to the cave, it smooths its tracks before burrowing backwards into its nest and hibernating.
Old Bagan was surprised: the bear not only hibernates, but also knows how to eliminate the trail, disguising itself.
Even during hibernation, Gobi bears occasionally wake up two or three times. At this time, it will unceremoniously go to the sheep farm of Old Bagan and compete with the sheep for food. Sometimes, it will even find a place to lie down in the flock, but usually does not spend the night there.
Old Bargan has been shepherding sheep and bears like this for three years and five months.
One day something suddenly changed - the Gobi bear never appeared again!
Days have passed, and the Gobi bear still hasn't returned!
Lao Bagen couldn't help but run to the Gobi bear's den to check, but found that the cave was empty, as if there had been no trace of the bear living in it for several days.
Ten days later, old Bagan came to the bear's den again, but was surprised to find that there was a she-wolf who had given birth to a young wolf living in the cave
The expert told Lao Bagen: don't panic, maybe the Gobi bear has gone looking for a mate. Or, it may have entered old age, knowing that its life is near, and quietly looking for a place to wait for the end of its life......
The journal Friends of Natural Sciences has detailed the size characteristics of the Gobi bear: this bear is relatively small, the adult male has a body length of between 150 and 190 centimeters, a shoulder width of about 90 centimeters, and a weight of between 90 and 180 kilograms;Female bears, on the other hand, are between 130 and 170 centimeters long and weigh about 100 kilograms.
The elder Bagen recalled that he had been herding Gobi bears for more than three years, and the minimum weight was 150 kilograms. He clearly remembered that it was a male bear.
Old Bagan felt lonely, he looked up at the sky and sighed: Why did it leave my flock, did it get old?Did you find a place to wait for death in advance?
Friends have speculated: The Gobi bear that was herded by Lao Bagen and the sheep for three years and five months has gone?