<b>Assessing current and future habitat suitability of the Endangered Syrian Brown Bear (</b><b><i>Ursus arctos syriacus</i></b><b>) in Iraq’s Kurdistan Region under climate change scenarios</b>

This study focuses on assessing the <b>current and future habitat suitability</b> of the Endangered <b>Syrian Brown Bear (Ursus arctos syriacus)</b> in the <b>Kurdistan Region of Iraq (KRI)</b>. Using field-collected occurrence records, environmental data (slope, elevation, climate variables), and <b>Maxent modeling</b>, you generated habitat suitability maps for the present and for 2070 under <b>climate change scenarios</b> (SSP 126 and SSP 585). The results reveal spatial shifts in habitat suitability, highlighting <b>potential climate refugia and habitat loss</b>, and offer insights to <b>inform conservation planning and conflict mitigation</b> for this threatened subspecies.