Females are smaller than males.
They are normally blackish in color, with lighter muzzles and a distinct V-shaped patch of cream colored fur on their chest. A brown phase also occurs. The ears of an Asiatic black bear appear much larger than those of other bear species. They are found in Southern Asian in a now greatly reduced and fragmented range. The western edge of the range was formerly Afghanistan across Pakistan, eastward over northern India and southern China, northern Indochina and northeastern China, former eastern Soviet Union, Korea and Japan.