A descendant of giant killers, these bears have taken to a more low key lifestyle. Their behaviour
is mysterious and their appearance is alluring, but we’re still only beginning to learn about this
mountain climbing predator. This is the largest predator of the Andes, the spectacled bear.
Hi, I’m Danielle Dufault and you’re watching Animalogic. The spectacled bear, Andean bear,
decorated bear, and Tremarctos Ornatus are all names for one of the most handsome
bears in the world! And their spectacles are their best feature, if I do say so myself!
(referencing her own glasses)
Spectacled bears are the closest living relatives of the largest bear that ever lived, the giant
short-faced bear. Fossils of this behemoth have been found in California’s La Brea Tar Pits.
Another gigantic relative, the Florida cave bear emerged in North America about 250,000 years ago.
But all the other members of the family died out and today,
the spectacled bear is the only living species of the short-faced bear family.
Spectacled bears can be up to two metres long, and can stand up to a metre tall at the shoulder.
They are one of the largest mammals in South America
and yet they’re some of the smallest bears in the world.
They typically weigh around 130 kg, which is pretty small compared to other bears,
like the Kodiak bear, which can weigh up to a whopping 600kg.
But despite its size, the spectacled bear is very present in South American folklore.
In Quechua, an Indigenous language found in the Andes, this bear
is known as “ukumari” and acts as a mediator between the world of the living and the dead.
The most famous spectacled bear is Paddington who travelled to England from Darkest Peru.
The jury is still out on if spectacled bears in the wild are any good at making marmalade.
But they don’t need to be famous to be easy to tell apart from other bears.
Aside from their white spectacle-like fur, which allows scientists to identify each individual
bear without marking them, these bears typically have dark fur, which is dense, long, and coarse.
Because they live in warmer climates than North American
and European bears, their skin is very thin.
So please try not to offend them when you bring up their massive heads,
which are some of the largest relative to body size of all bears.
Only pandas make a run for their money in the bear big head tournament.
Spectacled bears are terrestrial but are also good swimmers and especially great tree climbers.
They spend a great deal of their time in trees,
and are considered to be the most arboreal bear species in the world.
They sometimes even build leafy platforms in the trees, used to sleep, feed.
They can leave messages on trees for other individuals
by using claw marks or signaling their path by marking leaves or trunks with urine.
But not every spectacled bear lives in the trees.
These bears are highly adaptable and are found in a wide range of habitats,
including rainforests, paramos, and coastal scrub deserts across the andean mountain range.
Living mostly in the tropics, the food they need to survive
is available year-round, so there’s no need to hibernate.
Personally, I hope the spectacled bear never finds out that other bears hibernate! Can you
imagine finding out that your cousins from abroad take a few months off a year to just chillax?
Spectacled bears are omnivores,
known to eat over 300 different kinds of plants and over 20 different kinds of
insects and animals. Why order from the menu when you can sample from the entire buffet?
They actually eat so much fruit that they play an important role in their ecosystem,
spreading seeds over long distances. These guys are real super spreaders!
They are actually the only bears to eat Bromeliads, which can contain as
much as a liter of water. Spectacled bears are also known for eating small mammals,
such as mice, rabbits, birds, and even sloth and deer. They aren’t
picky and are able to take advantage of any food source available to them.
This is especially true when it comes to livestock. Every now and again,
spectacled bears catch livestock like goats, calves, and chickens.
Up until the late 90’s, the meat-eating behaviour of spectacled bears was only a rumour. Local
livestock farmers would awake to find their cattle had been attacked in the middle of the night
and would blame the spectacled bear, but this was treated as part of local bear folklore.
Eventually, the proof was in the blood pudding.
The first direct observation of spectacled bear attack on cattle and subsequent feeding on a
carcass was made in 1997 by a park warden in Chingaza National Park in Colombia.
This behaviour has led to spectacled bear-human conflict
even to this day. Though this species is vulnerable to extinction and in most cases
killing these bears is illegal, farmers kill spectacled bears to protect their animals.
Since 1973, the spectacled bear has been listed as vulnerable for the International Union for
Conservation of Nature and Natural Resources. There are an estimated 20,000 bears from Venezuela
to Bolivia, with Peru being the spectacled bear capital of the world with a population of 5,700.
It goes without saying but spectacled bear cubs are adorable.
They’re born defenseless and don't leave their mother’s side during the first three
to four months. But once they reach that age, they’ll start to leave the safety of the den.
The species is actually quite elusive. They are said to be shy and tend to avoid human
interaction, which in turn has made them difficult for humans to study.
They are said to only be aggressive when threatened, hurt, or protecting their cubs.
But their shy demeanor doesn’t stop them from speaking up.
Spectacled bears are thought to use vocal communication more than any other bear,
except the giant panda. Mother bears use different vocalizations
to communicate with their cubs. They also make unique vocalizations like a
piercing screech and a quiet purring. We love an animal with vocal range!
All the more reason to love this spectacular spectacled
species. Now try saying that 5 times fast! Spectacular spectacled species.
Spectacular spectacled species.
Nope!
So what should we talk about next? Please let me know in the comments and be sure to
subscribe for new episodes every week. Thanks for watching! See ya! And respect the specs.