| Spectacled Bear | |
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| Information | |
| Common Name | Andean Bear |
| Range | South America |
| Scientific Classification | |
| Kingdom | Animalia |
| Phylum | Chordata |
| Class | Mammalia |
| Order | Carnivora |
| Family | Ursidae |
| Genus | Tremarctos |
| Species | T ornatus |
| Conservation Status | |
 Vulnerable | |
The Spectacled Bear, (Tremarctos Ornatus), also known as the Andean Bear and locally as ukuko, jukumari, or ucumari, is the last remaining member Short-faced Bear group and the closest living relative to the Florida Spectacled Bear and the Short-faced Bears of the Middle Pleistocene to Late Pleistocene age. Spectacled Bears are the only surviving species of bear native to South America, and the only surviving member of the subfamily Tremarctinae.
Behavior and Diet[]
Spectacled Bears are one of the half of extant bear species that are habitually arboreal, alongside the American and Asian Black Bears and the Sun Bears in Andean cloud forests, Spectacled bears may be active both during the day and night, but in Peruvian Desert are reported to bed down under vegetative cover during the day. Their continued survival alongside humans has depended mostly on their ability to climb even the tallest trees of the Andes. They usually retreat from the presence of humans, often by climbing trees. Once up a tree, they may often build a platform, perhaps to aid in concealment, as well as to rest and store food on. Although spectacled bears are solitary and tend to isolate themselves from one another to avoid competition, they are not territorial. They have even been recorded to feed in small groups at abundant food sources. Males are reported to have an average home range of 23 km2 (8.9 sq mi) during the wet season and 27 km2 (10 sq mi) during the dry season. Females are reported to have an average home range of 10 km2 (3.9 sq mi) in the wet season and 7 km2 (2.7 sq mi) in the dry season. When encountered by humans or other spectacled bears, they will react in a docile but cautious manner, unless the intruder is seen as a threat or a mother's cubs are endangered. Like other bears, mothers are protective of their young and have attacked poachers. There is only a single reported human death due to a spectacled bear, which occurred while it was being hunted and was already shot. The only predators of cubs are cougars and jaguars.
Reproduction[]
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Mating may occur at almost any time of the year, but activity normally peaks in April and June, at the beginning of the wet season and corresponding with the peak of fruit-ripening. The mating pair are together for one to two weeks, during which they will copulate multiple times. Births usually occur in the dry season, between December and February. The gestation period is 5.5 to 8.5 months. From one to three cubs may be born, with four being rare and two being the average. The cubs are born with their eyes closed and weigh about 300 to 330 g (11 to 12 oz) each. Although this species does not give birth during the hibernation cycle as do northern bear species, births usually occur in a small den and the female waits until the cubs can see and walk before she leaves with them. The size of the litter has been positively correlated with both the weight of the female and the abundance and variety of food sources, particularly the degree to which fruiting is temporally predictable. The cubs often stay with the female for one year before striking out on their own. Breeding maturity is estimated to be reached at between four and seven years of age for both sexes, based solely on captive bears. Though the latter normally has considerably different habitat preferences, the altitudinal range of the jaguar does overlap rarely with the bear and bears are reported to actively avoid jaguars. Generally, the only threat against adult bears is humans. The longest-lived captive bear, at the National Zoo in Washington DC, attained a lifespan of 36 years and 8 months. Lifespan in the wild has not been studied, but bears are believed to commonly live to 20 years or more unless they run afoul of humans.
Spectacled bears are more herbivorous than most other bears; normally about 5 to 7% of their diets is meat. The most common foods for these bears include cactus, bromeliads (especially Puya ssp., Tillandsia ssp. and Guzmania ssp.) palm nuts, bamboo hearts, frailejon (Espeletia spp.), orchid bulbs, fallen fruit on the forest floor, and unopened palm leaves.
Gallery[]
Facts[]
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