About
Range: Andean countries of South America
Habitat: Humid and dry forests, high-altitude grasslands
Here's looking at you The Andean bear of South America is also known as the spectacled bear for the rings of white or light fur around its eyes, which can look like eyeglasses (or spectacles) against the rest of the bear's black or dark brown fur. These markings often extend down the chest, giving each bear a unique appearance and helping researchers identify each bear by its "mug shot"! The markings also give the bear its scientific name: Tremarctos ornatus, or decorated bear. As a mid-sized bear species, Andean bears are between four and six feet long and stand 2 to 3 feet at the shoulder. Males are 30 to 50 percent larger than the females.
At home in the trees
Normally diurnal, very little is known about these bears in the wild, as they are shy and tend to avoid humans, making them hard to find for researchers to study! The bears are native to the Andean countries from Venezuela to Bolivia, living in forests, grasslands, and scrublands. Andean bears are true arboreal bears, using their long, sharp front claws to climb and forage for food. They build leafy platforms in the trees, both in the wild and in zoos, which they may use to feed and sleep. Because of their tropical native climate, Andean bears do not hibernate and are active year-round. Their biggest threats come from humans, directly or indirectly.
I'll eat that!
Andean bears are mainly plant eaters, dining on fruit, bromeliads, and palms, and are the most vegetarian members of the bear family, aside from the bamboo-eating giant panda. Those living in scrubland habitat are even known to eat cacti! Farmers sometimes blame Andean bears for killing livestock, but studies of the bears' droppings (scat) show that only around five percent of their diet is meat, usually rodents and insects. The bears are good swimmers, although they don't usually dine on fish! Mostly solitary, Andean bears may gather together to eat where food is plentiful, such as a cluster of trees bearing fruit or corn ripening in a farmer's field. Eating so much fruit helps these bears play an important role in forest ecology: the seeds they eat are excreted in their droppings as the bears move around, spreading the seeds over long distances for the production of the next generation of fruit trees throughout the forest. At the San Diego Zoo, the Andean bears are fed biscuits made for zoo omnivores, apples, carrots, grapes, yams, bananas, oranges, and lettuce. For treats they may be offered crickets and mealworms.
Bear Talk
Andean bears are thought to use vocal communication more than any other bear except the giant panda. They make unique vocalizations that are quite "un-bear-like": a shrill screech and a soft, purring sound. Mother bears may use different vocalizations to communicate with their cubs.
Family life
A female gives birth to one to three cubs in a protected, out-of-the-way den, but almost nothing is known about how she chooses her den site, which is thought to be a nest made under tree roots or rocks. The newborns' eyes don't open until they are about 42 days old. Cubs first leave the safety of the den when they are about three months old. They can ride on the mother's back, or she can carry a cub by clutching it to her chest with one front paw as she runs on three legs or walks on her hind legs! It is not known how long the youngsters stay with their mother in the wild, but it is believed that the cubs are at least one year old when they venture out on their own.
Fun Facts
Andean bears are the only bears found in South America. Since literature's Paddington Bear came from "darkest Peru," he would have been an Andean bear.
Andean bears are the only bears known to eat bromeliads.
The largest bear that ever lived was the giant short-faced bear, a relative of the Andean bear. Fossils of this bear have been found in California's La Brea Tar Pits, not far from the San Diego Zoo.
Andean bears have only 13 pairs of ribs, one less than other bears.
At the Zoo
The San Diego Zoo's first three Andean bears arrived in 1938 as part of the Hancock Pacific Scientific Expedition. They were named Polly, Toby, and Punch. At the time, there were only two other Andean bears in captivity, so we were excited to have them join us. One of the three lived until 1958, establishing a longevity record of over 20 years for the species. In 1986, two young Andean bears arrived at the Zoo. One morning before the Zoo opened, the little female found a very small opening, too small for a bear, or so we thought, in a top corner of her bedroom. She climbed out, ran down the sidewalk, and jumped into a pool, which then held a 2,000-pound sea lion named Charlie. Both animals were so astonished at this unexpected meeting that they didn't react to each other at all, so keepers easily returned the bear to her own exhibit. She never escaped again but was soon nicknamed Miss Houdini after magician Harry Houdini, who specialized as an escape artist. Miss Houdini surprised us again in 1990 when she became one of the youngest Andean bears at a zoo to give birth. She was too inexperienced to keep her cub warm, so he was rushed to the nursery. The cub was named Pepino, which means cucumber in Spanish, since he was as cold as a cucumber when the keeper found him. He became the first Andean bear ever hand-raised from birth. Miss Houdini and her mate, Tommy, had more cubs over the years, including twins, and she proved to be a great mom. Their cubs grew and had cubs of their own. The Zoo is currently home to male Andean bear Turbo. He was born in 2010 and came to us in 2013 from a zoo in Germany. Turbo lives along the Zoo's Center Street.
Conservation
An uncertain future Like too many animal species, wild Andean bears are vulnerable to extinction. The main risks to the bears are poaching, conflict between bears and humans when humans believe that the bears are a threat to their crops or livestock, and habitat loss. No one knows how many of these bears remain, but Andean bear habitat is being lost at a rate of approximately two to four percent per year, destroyed for mining operations, farming, and lumber; this loss is not slowing down. The construction of new roads fragments bear habitat as well. As their habitat shrinks, bears may stray onto farmland, feeding on the crops that replaced their natural diet. Hunted in the past for their meat, fat, and body parts, Andean bears are now protected by international trade laws. Helping bears in Peru A Species Survival Plan through the Association of Zoos and Aquariums is in place for this bear species, and San Diego Zoo Global has an Andean Bear Conservation Program. Its goal is to help increase scientific knowledge about these bears to advance their conservation, to train and mentor Peruvian conservationists, and to promote an understanding that the bears are integral parts of a healthy ecosystem essential for all and worthy of conservation. One of the flagship species of national parks in the Andes, the Andean bear is an animal that people recognize easily and is used as the symbol of the parks. Local people in bear habitats are being educated about the benefits of preserving habitat for the bears for tourism, for the protection of water sources, and for the natural heritage of future generations. We work in partnership with the Spectacled Bear Conservation Society. This non-profit organization has been working in the dry forests of northwestern Peru since 2006, building strong relationships with the local communities, and together we're making incredible discoveries about bear biology. For example, we now believe that survival of the bear population in the dry forest of northwest Peru depends on the fruit of the sapote tree. It is apparent that it is necessary to conserve the sapote tree, which is critically endangered in Peru, and other natural resources for the benefit of the bears and all the other wildlife that share their special part of the world. Can Cute Trinkets Save Andean Bears?
