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Andean Bear
Andean Bear
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Andean Bear
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  *This image is copyright of its original author
 *This image is copyright of its original author  *This image is copyright of its original author  *This image is copyright of its original author  *This image is copyright of its original author
https://nationalzoo.si.edu/Animals/Amazo...tacled.cfm
The Andean bear or spectacled bear ( Tremarctos ornatus ) is the only living "short-faced" bear - they are not monsters. 
They are more closely related to the South American Short-faced bear than the North American one.
And their direct ancestor was the Floridan Cave bear. 
Photo and information credits: Kevin Schafer Photography
"Just finishing up a three week expedition to Peru where, among other things, I spent time photographing Spectacled Bears in the northern Andes. Here, a young female looks for food high in a tree, on branches that barely seem big enough to support her weight. Spectacled Bear, Lambayeque Province, Northern Peru"  *This image is copyright of its original author
All I know is that his name is Bandit and that he lived from 1977 to 2010.
 *This image is copyright of its original author
Photo and information credits: Jaime Culebras Wildlife
"Andean #Bear or Spectacled Bear (#Tremarctos ornatus), a target for all #photographer. One of the most incredible moments of my field life. This huge male, looking at me, face to face, 20 meters between us, feeling tons of things through my eyes, while it was feeding in a tree. This #species is listed as #Vulnerable in the The #IUCN Red List of #Threatened Species, due to #deforestation, #poaching, even illegal #pet trade. Fortunately, peolple like Andres Laguna, fight too hard to save this species. © Jaime Culebras 2016"  *This image is copyright of its original author
abc7ny.com/news/1st-ever-andean-bear-in-ny-makes-a-debut-at-queens-zoo/1953078/
Friday, May 05, 2017 10:41AM QUEENS, New York (WABC) -- The first-ever Andean bear born in New York City just made its debut at the Queens Zoo. It is part of an effort by the Wildlife Conservation Society to save Andean bears in the wild. Weighing 25 pounds, the cub was born to mother Nicole and father Bouba over the winter. He is now ready to venture into the zoos's bear habitat with his mom to start exploring. Bouba came to Queens from a zoo in France to breed with Nicole, who was born at the Smithsonian National Zoo in Washington D.C and came to the Queens Zoo in 2015. The cub is the first cub born to this pair and has not yet been named. The Queens Zoo is breeding Andean bears as a part of the Species Survival Plan (SSP), a cooperative breeding program designed to enhance the genetic viability and demographic stability of animal population in zoos and aquariums accredited by the Association of Zoos and Aquariums. There are currently only 42 bears in accredited zoos, and only six potentially viable breeding pairs in the population. Queens Zoo Director and Animal Curator Scott Silver leads the national breeding program as the SSP coordinator. "This is a significant birth for the Queens Zoo and the Andean bear SSP breeding program," he said. "This little guy may be adorable, but more importantly, he reminds us of what we stand to lose when a species is in danger of extinction," Silver said. "We are excited to introduce the cub to New York and to share the work WCS and our partners are doing to save Andean bears and many other species in the wild." Andean bears are the only bears native to South America, and they are also known as speculated bears due to the markings on their faces that sometimes resemble glasses. They have characteristically short faces and are relatively small in comparison to some other bear species. As adults, males weigh between 250-350 pounds, while adult females rarely exceed 200 pounds. Andean bears are classified as vulnerable by the International Union for the Conservation of Nature. It is estimated there are fewer than 18,000 remaining in the wild. 
Andean Bears Tremarctos ornatus in Venezuela
 *This image is copyright of its original author  *This image is copyright of its original author  *This image is copyright of its original author  *This image is copyright of its original author  *This image is copyright of its original author Andean Bear Tremarctos ornatus: it is the most herbivorous of Bears after Giant Panda oportunistically eats cacti, moss, orchids, bamboo, tree wood, palms, honey, invertebrates, birds and small mammals. Individuals ocasionally kill livestock, but most carcasses are probably scavenged. Head and body length 130-180 cm, shoulder height 65-80 cm, weight females 65-80kg, weight males 100-170kg Solitary but reported to eat in groups in cornfields and cactus groves, home ranges in radio collared bears in Ecuador overlap considerable and average 34 km2 in females and 150 km2 in males. It is very difficult to spot them in the wild, when ever they see a human they stay away, one of the persons that knows more about them in Venezuela (Denis Alexander Torres) has seen only one Andean Bear in the wild. Pictures taken from the book (Un Oso Venezolano El Oso Frontino). 
I suppose the short faced bear's morphology should be more suited for running or even moving for long time in open grassland or snoowy landscapes than the andean bear's one. It certainly was an animal that was acustomed with dealing long distances in order to get some food.
Active predator or not (scavenger), the short faced bear had an almost 100 % meat diet whereas the andean bear is omnivorous.  *This image is copyright of its original author
The Andean Bear (Tremarctos ornatus) is the only Bear found in South America, very few people have seen them in the wild, a Bear Biologist named Denis Alexander Torres have seen only one wild Andean Bear in Venezuela in the last 10 years.
credits to @fermentedsalmonellapoison @andrewjeldred and @welovebears  *This image is copyright of its original author  *This image is copyright of its original author  *This image is copyright of its original author
The Andean Bear (Tremarctos ornatus)
Pictures courtesy of Denis Alexander Torres, he knows a lot about Andean Bears in Venezuela because he has been studying them for a very long time, he says that it is very difficult to spot them in the wild because they are very timid animals that prefer to stay away from humans.  *This image is copyright of its original author  *This image is copyright of its original author  *This image is copyright of its original author  *This image is copyright of its original author
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