Large carnivores’ far ranging habits and their requirements for wide areas often led them to move into unprotected lands, making them especially vulnerable to various human threats. Therefore, it is crucial to better
understand their mortality characteristics and potential threats so to help guide conservation efforts. Brown bear
is a protected species in Iran, however, knowledge on its population structure and causes of mortality are sparse.
The main objective of this study was to understand the causes and spatio-temporal patterns of brown bear
mortality in Iran. We carried out a systematic survey of internet media sources to answer (1) the mortality of
which age and sex group is reported in the media; (2) what are the most common causes of mortality; (3) what
are the temporal and spatial patterns of brown bear mortality?. Overall, we found 135 mortalities of brown bears
in Iran from 2004 to 2019. Our fndings showed that 84% of mortalities were related to anthropogenic causes
and being shot (59%) was the most common cause followed by vehicle collisions (18.7%). Only 2% of reported
mortalities were due to natural causes, and no information on the causes of mortality was available for 14%. We
further found no differences in the sex distribution of bears killed, but adults (68%) were more commonly killed
than subadults (22%); and age was unknown in 9% of mortalities. Most mortalities (75%) were reported in
summer and autumn. We found that the number of bear mortality increased with increasing elevation, road
density, proportion of forest cover, and that it was higher in areas with a higher proportion of protected areas
(PA). However, most reported mortality cases were found outside of PAs. The main takeaway messages from our
study are that the conservation of large carnivores in Iran must occur in co-existence with humans in a humandominated landscape. It is also essential to obtain reliable data on population structure as well as more data on
mortality rates and causes. We propose, among other conservation actions, the establishment of a central
database for the systematic collection of data on human-carnivore conflicts as well as a compensation scheme for
reimbursement of damages by large carnivores.