The Wildlife Conservation Society has been active in studying the species since 1976 and helped to establish several protected areas. Notable conservation programs: Quite a few, actually. Logging, mining, oil exploration, agriculture and roads have whittled away at the bears’ habitats for decades, while hunting (both for food and as retaliation for raided crops) results in a few hundred killed bears every year. Major threat: As we have seen with so many other large predators, habitat loss, habitat fragmentation and poaching pose the biggest threats to spectacled bears. The most recent population estimates put the species at about 16,000-20,000 individuals. IUCN Red List status: Vulnerable to extinction. (In the books, Paddington is said to have traveled to London via lifeboat from “Darkest Peru.”) Where found: The only ursine species in South America, the spectacled bear ranges through much of the tropical Andes, including populations in Venezuela, Colombia, Ecuador, Peru and Bolivia. Also please note the complete absence of hats and raincoats on wild bears.) (Sorry “Paddington” fans, real spectacled bears don’t eat marmalade. Although their teeth are adapted for eating flesh, they vastly prefer cactus, bamboo, bromeliads, fruit and bark, all of which make up about 95 percent of their diets. Notable characteristics: These mid-sized bears (about one-third the size of grizzlies) have black-brown fur broken only by the “spectacle” pattern of beige and white around their eyes and snouts. The bears are the only member of their genus and the last surviving species of the Tremarctinae subfamily, all others of which died out millennia ago. Species name: Andean or spectacled bear ( Tremarctos ornatus), sometimes referred to as the Andean short-faced bear for its unique abbreviated snout. theaters today, let’s take a look at the real-life endangered species that inspired author Michael Bond’s beloved books: the Andean spectacled bear. As the new “Paddington” movie opens in U.S.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |