1000 Tögrög Brown Bear

Mongolia's brown bear (*Ursus arctos* ssp.) population is concentrated in the Gobi Desert's isolated massifs, where a genetically distinct and critically small subpopulation — the Gobi bear, or *mazaalai* — numbers fewer than 50 individuals by most recent surveys. Whether this coin intends the Gobi bear specifically or the broader Mongolian brown bear range is unclear from the issuing authority's documentation, a distinction that matters considerably given the conservation politics surrounding the *mazaalai*'s protected status under Mongolian law since 1953.