Distribution
In Russia, the sable's distribution is largely the result of mass reintroductions involving 19,000 animals from 1940 to 1965. Their range extends northward to the limit of trees, and extends southward to 55–60° latitude in western Siberia, and 42° in the mountainous areas of eastern Asia. Their western distribution encompasses the Ural mountains, where they are sympatric with European pine martens. They are also found on Sakhalin.
In Mongolia, sables occur in the Altai Mountains and in the surrounding forests of Lake Hovsgol, the latter being contiguous with the Trans-Baikal boreal forest region from where the most valuable sable pelts come from. In China, sables occur in a limited area of the Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region. In northeastern China, sables are now limited to the Daxinganling Mountains. In eastern Heilongjiang, the persistence of sables is suspected in the Xiaoxinganling Mountains. Sables also occur in Hokkaido and on the Korean peninsula.
Because of the variable appearance of the sable in different geographic localities, there has been some debate over the exact number of subspecies that can be clearly identified. Mammal Species of the World recognises seventeen different subspecies, but other recent scholarly sources have identified anything from seven to thirty.
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