Spectacled BearSpectacled Bear© Lou Jost

Spectacled Bear

Scientific name is Tremarctos ornatus

The Spectacled Bear is the only bear in South America.

It is found in these countries: Bolivia, Colombia, Ecuador, Peru and Venezuela.

What habitat do they live in? The Spectacled Bear can be found in a wide variety of habitats, from cloud forest (higher and wetter than rainforest), rainforest, grassland, and desert scrub.

They are also called ‘Andean Bears’ because they are found along the Andes mountain range, and they prefer habitat that is in high places.

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There is another name for these bears, and it is linked to the habitat that they live in.

Click to find out what it is

Why are they threatened?

The habitat of the Spectacled Bear is destroyed as roads and mines are built and as people clear forest so that they can grow crops.

Spectacled Bears are hunted for their meat and body parts – for traditional oriental medicine. They are also killed by farmers, who blame them for eating their crops and killing their cattle.

This means that the bears have less room to move around in, and populations may become isolated (also called fragmented). This means they are more likely to stray into areas of human activity and be hunted.

What does this mean? Click

What happens next? Click

How do they communicate?

Spectacled Bears are thought to rely on smell and on sight. Mothers and cubs may call to each other, but otherwise the bear does not make sounds.

What do they eat?

They eat fruit and plants called bromeliads, insects, rodents, birds, berries, grass and wild bulbs.

What is the name for something that eats meat and plants? Click here for the answerSpectacled Bears are omnivores.

Spectacled Bears often climb trees to search for food.

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How long do they live? There are reports of Spectacled Bears living up to 39 years in captivity, but no one knows how long they can live in the wild.

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How big are they? Spectacled Bears can be between 150 cm and 200 cm long from head to tail. Their tails are less than 10 cm long, and they are less than 100 cm tall at shoulder height. Female Spectacled Bears are smaller than males.

Click to find out.

They have pale markings on the face that sometimes spread around the eyes and down the chest: these markings can be similar to a pair of glasses, or spectacles.

What do they look like?

Spectacled Bears are very dark in colour, black or brown, sometimes with a reddish tinge.

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This Spectacled Bear does not have pale markings around its eyes. But look closely, there is a pale patch under its chin.

These pictures are both of Spectacled Bears. Click to learn more

Tell me about their babies:

Female Spectacled Bears give birth to up to three cubs between December and February.

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The cubs ride on their mothers back when they are very small, and they will stay with her for up to a year.

How many babies do you think Spectacled Bears have and what are they called? Click to find out

Spectacled Bears do not need to hibernate as food is available all year round in tropical forests.

The Spectacled Bear is not always quiet, if it is running away from danger it makes a lot of noise as it crashes through the forest.

Interesting facts:

The facial markings of every Spectacled Bear are different, just like human fingerprints, and some Spectacled Bears will not have spectacles at all.

Spectacled Bears often climb trees to find food, and they are thought to make nests in trees for resting in.

A story from the wild:

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Eric Horstmann was working on a nature trail in a National Park in southern Ecuador.

He was working quite high up in the Andes Mountains where the roads were very narrow and were made of dirt. The living conditions were very basic, but he said the spectacular views made up for it.

Click to see a picture of the cloud forest on the edge of the National Park that Eric was working in.

A story from the wild:A friend of Eric’s had seen a Spectacled Bear mother and cub in the area, and so Eric hoped that he would see one too. But Spectacled Bears are very shy, and there are lots of mountains and forests for them to hide in.

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A story from the wild:

Eric’s first encounter with a Spectacled Bear was over very quickly. Click to learn what happened

Eric was walking along a dirt road when out of the corner of his eye he saw a dark shape moving. In an instant the dark shape disappeared off the road and crashed noisily through the trees. Spectacled Bears are very shy, and this one obviously did not want to be seen.

One morning Eric went to work on the nature trail and he found Spectacled Bear footprints on the muddy path. He decided to name the trail Spectacled Bear Trail after the very special visitor.

But Eric never saw a Spectacled Bear here again.

Click here to learn about Eric’s second encounter with a Spectacled Bear

If you choose the Spectacled Bear as your fundraising focus, your donation will go towards World Land Trust projects for the conservation of wildlife habitat in Ecuador.©

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