The Andean bears or spectacled bears, the only species of their family in South America, inhabit remote places, which has made them a species full of mysteries.
A recent study in Peru, using collar cameras, has revealed fascinating aspects of their diet, habits, and behaviors, including a case of cannibalism of cubs.
Research in Manu National Park
The National Geographic and Rolex Perpetual Planet Amazon Expedition scientific expedition placed collar cameras on three Andean bears for four months, recording a total of six and a half hours.
This innovative technology, which includes GPS, allowed to obtain details never seen before of these bears that inhabit Manu National Park, in southern Peru.
Infanticide and Unusual Behaviors
The cameras captured the first recorded case of infanticide in Andean bears, showing an adult male eating a bear the size of a cub. It also recorded a spectacled bear eating the remains of a woolly monkey, being only the second documented case of a bear feeding on a non-human primate.
Interactions and Reproduction
The cameras also showed interactions among the bears outside of mating and cub-rearing. Additionally, for the first time, mating in tree canopies was captured.
The expedition discovered that Andean bears consume more than 21 different plant species, and for the first time, a case of geophagy was observed, the consumption of soil and clay to supplement their diet.
Watch the video here.
Conservation and Future of the Andean Bear
These findings, published in the Journal of Ecology and Evolution, provide invaluable insights to enhance conservation efforts for Andean bears, a species almost endangered.
The biologist and expedition leader, Ruthmery Pillco Huarcaya, emphasized that this new knowledge allows for a better understanding of Andean bears and using that information to protect this key species and its habitat.
Ian Miller, Chief Scientist and Innovation Officer at the National Geographic Society, added that this new knowledge provides the opportunity to better understand Andean bears as ecosystem engineers shaping the cloud forest, using that knowledge to protect the species and its environment.
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