© www.wildanimalsonline.com
The specatacled bear is South America's only bear
species. It faces an uncertain future due to loss of habitat.
The male is a little heavier than a human man, and the weight is
about 130 kilo.
High as a normal man, 180 cm. Female weighs only around 50 kilo.
It is covered by a black fur, but white spots at the eyes makes
it look like wearing glasses.
Life Cycle
Cubs are born with their eyes shut and weigh about 300g.
Eyes are opened after the first month.
Cubs are black in colour and already show the white or yellowish
'spectacle' markings.
The young grow fairly quickly and at 180 days they already
weigh 10kg.
Cubs remain with the mother for at least one year after
birth.
Spectacled bears are estimated to live for just over 20
years.
Spectacled
bear, Tremarctos ornatus, Male following female
Granada Wild, London
http://www.arkive.org
Diet
Spectacled bears have an omnivorous diet, although they
are fairly specialized in fruit and different
parts of several plants. They feed high up in trees as well
as on plants growing on the ground.
When ripe fruit is not available, bears live off fibrous
parts of plants such as bromeliad hearts,
soft parts of palms, orchid bulbs and even tree bark. In
addition, they eat insects, small rodents and birds.
However, it happens from time to time that it can take
domestic animals, i.e. Lama or Alpakka
but since the bears are very few, they do little damage.
(Our comments)
Text from wwf.panda.org
http://wwf.panda.org/about_our_earth/species/profiles/mammals/spectacled_bear/
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Apart from this, it is the only bear to be found
in South America, and at the same time - the bear about
which we know the least. Of course then, it is very seldom seen.
In the Sangay nationalpark
it can be found below 3.000 m asl.
One scientist spent 7 years moving through dense forests to study
the bear, and during that time
he only observed EIGHT bears.
WWF
har en glimrende side om 'brillebjørnen'
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Current Population and Distribution
The spectacled bear is found from Venezuela to Northern Argentina,
including Colombia, Ecuador, Peru
and Bolivia. According to some researchers, the greatest number
of bears is to be found on the borders
between Colombia, Ecuador and Peru.
Recent estimated population sizes for most
areas are small, with a total estimate for the Northern
Andes
(excluding most of Peru, Bolivia and northern Argentina) comprised
anywhere between 6,000 and
10,000 individuals.
Text from wwf.panda.org
http://wwf.panda.org/about_our_earth/species/profiles/mammals/spectacled_bear/
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Spectacled
bear, Tremarctos ornatus, family feeding
BBC Natural History Unit
http://www.arkive.org
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Main threats
Loss and fragmentation of the species habitat is due to the
construction of roads, the destruction of forests
for illicit crops such as coca and opium poppy, and the use
of grazing areas for cattle farming.
Protected areas conserving bear habitats and some of their
populations are not large enough for the species'
survival throughout its range.
Hunting is one of the major causes of population reduction
of this species. Local inhabitants kill bears for
diverse reasons, including subsistence hunting, protection
against attacks to livestock and crops
(especially maize), fear of the animal due to cultural reasons,
It is calculated that around 200 bears are
hunted down each year in the region.
Text from wwf.panda.org
http://wwf.panda.org/about_our_earth/species/profiles/mammals/spectacled_bear/
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© Lincoln Park Zoo
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Spectacled Bear 
Brillebjørn
Brilbeer
Ours
à lunettes
Brillenbär
Orso andino 
Oso de anteojos 
Glasögonbjörn 
