1000 Tögrög Gobi Bear

The Gobi bear — known locally as the mazaalai — is one of the rarest mammals on earth, with the wild population estimated at fewer than 40 individuals at the time this coin was issued. Confined entirely to the Gobi Desert's Great Gobi Strictly Protected Area, it is the only bear species adapted to a true desert environment. Mongolia has listed it as nationally critically endangered since the 1950s.