ULAN BATOR, Nov. 4 (Xinhua) -- A critically endangered Gobi bear (Mazaalai) has died in the southwestern Mongolian province of Bayankhongor due to unknown cause, the country's minister of environment and tourism said on Friday.

Undated photo of the Gobi bear, which the Chinese government is moving to support through financing and technology provided to the Mongolian government. (Photo: People's Daily)

"Our ministry has set up a working group to find out exactly when the bear died and the cause of death," Bat-Ulzii Bat-Erdene said in a statement.

According to the latest survey, a total of 51 Gobi bears existed in Mongolia, the ministry said in May.

Gobi bears, whose habitats have shrunk dramatically compared with the 1950s and 1960s, persist as a unique ecotype in the Gobi Desert of southwestern Mongolia, according to Gobi Bear Project, a non-profit organization focusing on the protection of the endangered species.