Spectacled Bear
Spectacled Bear
2. Mainly forested mountains up to 3,000 meters in elevation but often ranges into higher clearings or into the lower savannahs and scrubland.
3. Adults reach lengths of five to six feet and weights of 130-200 lbs. Pelage is uniformly dark brown or black with a long semi-circle of tan or white on the lower side of the neck. Lines of white or tan extend down the chest from this semi-circle.
4. There are large circles or semi-circles of white or tan around the eyes. The common name “Spectacled bear” is derived from these circles which resemble a pair of spectacles.
5. They are the most herbivorous of the bears, preferring fruits and leaves to meat.
6. They are also expert climbers and are able of scale trees 100 feet tall in search of food.
7. They use a variety of calls to communicate with one another.
8. They are excellent climbers and often construct platforms in trees for resting and feeding.
9. Spectacled bears are thought to be nocturnal.
10. This bear does not need to sleep through the winter since it lives in the rainforest.
11. Females will build nests for newborns, but remain active throughout the year.
12. This bear is the Andean or spectacled bear. It lives in the Andes Mountains, and is South America's only bear.
13. A male Andean bear is much bigger than a female. Some males weigh more than 400 pounds. The largest females rarely weigh more than 180 pounds.
14. One unique characteristic of these bears is that they have 13 pairs of ribs while other bear species have 14 pairs.
15. They have delayed implantaion, when the egg is fertilzed it devides a few times and then floats around freely in the uterus. This helps insure that the cubs will be born when food is available.
16. Considered one of the best climbing bears. It is fully aquatic and loves to swim and fish. It can slip through dense vegetation that is impassible to humans. It can walk on all 4’s or on 2 legs.
17. It is the sole survivor of a subfamily of short-faced bears (the Bulldog Bear, Arctodus simus) that was the largest predator in North and South America during the Ice Age.
18. No two animals have the same facial pattern; it acts like a finger print. When scientists study them in the wild they take pictures of their faces for identification. They may stay in one fruit tree for 3 to 4 days awaiting the ripening period. They have a very important role in the ecosystem as seed dispersers.
19. Andean bears are the only bears known to eat bromeliads.
20. Largest Carnivore in South America and the second largest land mammal next to the Tapir.
21. Since literature's "Paddington Bear" came from "darkest Peru," he would have been an Andean bear!
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