Andean Bear Facts
- The Andean Bear (Tremarctus ornatus) is also known as the Spectacled bear, for the light colored fur outlining the eyes, resembling eye-glasses.
- The Andean bear is the only bear of South America, lives in the páramo and cloud forest regions of the Andes, and ranges from Venezuela to Northern Argentina (1).
- The Andean bear does not hibernate
- The bear is omnivorous, but primarily consumes succulents such as bromeliads (2).
- Males can grow to be 5 feet long and weigh 154 kilograms (340 lbs), and females rarely weigh more than 82 kilograms (180 lbs) (1).
- The bears construct nest-like platforms in trees (1).
- The Andean bear has been listed as "Vulnerable" on the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species since 1982 (1).
- Producing data on the bear has proven a challenging task and accurate data on bear population densities are nonesistant. Estimates range drastically from 3,000-20,000 bears in the wild (1).
(1) Goldstein, I. Velez-Liendo, X.,
Paisley, S. & Garshelis, D.L. 2008. Tremarctos
ornatus.In:
IUCN 2011. IUNC Red List of Threatened Species. Version 2011.2. <http://www.iucnredlist.org>.
(2) Peyton, Bernard. Ecology, Distribution, and Food Habits of Spectacled Bears, Tremarctos ornatus, in Peru. Journal of Mammalogy , Vol. 61, No. 4 (Nov., 1980), pp. 639-652.
(2) Peyton, Bernard. Ecology, Distribution, and Food Habits of Spectacled Bears, Tremarctos ornatus, in Peru. Journal of Mammalogy , Vol. 61, No. 4 (Nov., 1980), pp. 639-652.