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Mammals: Andean (Spectacled) Bear

Range: Andes Mountains of South America Habitat: humid forests or rain forests, high-altitude grasslands, and scrubland

Here's looking at you

The Andean or spectacled bear of South America gets one of its common names from the rings of white or light fur around its eyes, which look like eyeglasses (or spectacles) against the rest of the black or dark brown fur. These markings often extend down the chest, giving each bear a unique appearance and give the bear its scientific name: Tremarctos ornatus, or decorated bear. Among the smaller of the bear species, Andean bear males are usually twice as large as the females. Nocturnal by nature, very little is known about these bears in the wild. They do their sleeping in the daytime and are shy and tend to avoid humans, making it hard for scientists to study them in the wild.

Family life

Males, called boars, are often solitary, but they may form family groups. Just before giving birth, a female, called a sow, will make a simple nest under tree roots or rocks to use as a den. The newborn's eyes don't open until the cub is about 42 days old. Cubs first leave the safety of the den when they are about three months old.

While they are small cubs can hitch a ride on Mom's back. She can also 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! Andean bears produce unique vocalizations, which are quite "un-bear-like": a shrill screech and a soft, purring sound. Sows may use different vocalizations to communicate with their cubs. The youngsters stay with their mother until they are about eight months old.

I'll eat that!

Andean bears are true arboreal bears, using their long, sharp front claws to climb. They build leafy platforms in the trees where they can feed and sleep. These platforms are often used for long periods of time. The bears are mainly plant eaters, dining on fruit, bromeliads, and palms. Bears living in scrubland habitat are even known to eat cacti! Farmers often blame spectacled 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 bear is a good swimmer, although it doesn't usually dine on fish!

Eating so much fruit gives these bears an important role in rain forest ecology: the seeds that they eat are excreted in their droppings as they move around the forests, spreading the seeds over long distances. This produces the next generation of fruit trees and promotes diversity in the forest. At the San Diego Zoo, the Andean bears are fed omnivore biscuits, apples, carrots, grapes, yams, bananas, oranges, and lettuce. For treats they may be offered crickets and mealworms.

An uncertain future

The habitat of the Andean bear is being destroyed for mining operations, farming, and lumber. As their habitat shrinks, bears may stray onto farmland, feeding on the crops that replaced their natural diet. These bears have been hunted in the past for their meat, fat, and body parts, but they are now protected from international trade, making it less profitable for the hunters who threatened them in the past.

The Andean bear is one of the flagship species of the Andes national parks. This means that the bear, an animal that people recognize easily, 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 and for the natural heritage of future generations. And a Species Survival Plan (SSP) is in place for this bear species, assuring that conservation organizations will work together to help South America's one and only bear!