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Rescuing the Andean Bear |
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By Kintto Lucas and María Isabel García*
The spectacled bear, arrived in the Andes Mountains some 16,000 years ago. It is the only South American bear species, and its prospects for survival are gloomy.
BOGOTA/QUITO - The Andean bear is in danger as a result of the impact of human activities on the Andes ecosystems that extend through Venezuela, Colombia, Ecuador, Peru and Bolivia. An estimated 18,000 to 20,000 of these animals survive today in different environments, like humid forests and high mountain plains.
"In the eastern Andean foothills of Bolivia it has been found at 550 meters altitude, and in the arid zones of Peru at 300 meters," Francisco Cuesta, member of a research team of the Ecuadorian Eco-Science Foundation, told Tierramérica.
Because of its black fur and a whitish-yellow patch around the eyes, which sometimes extends over the forehead and chest, it is also known as the spectacled bear, or masked bear. Weighing a half kilogram at birth, it can reach two meters long and a weight of 110 to 175 kg in adulthood, with the females being much smaller than the males.
The gestation period is eight months, with one to three cubs born at a time, staying with the mother two to three years before going off on their own. The Andean bear lives 20 to 25 years.
But as cities continue to expand and farming and ranching operations spread into previously untouched areas, the species' habitat is being fragmented, isolating bears from one another and seriously endangering their future viability.
"Compared to other large mammal species of the Americas, like the puma or jaguar, the genetic variation of the Andean bear is quite limited, meaning it does not adapt easily to new environments," explains Spanish geneticist Manuel Ruiz-García, an expert at the Pontificate Javeriana University of Bogotá.
Because of this characteristic, the presence of the species is a sign that there is an abundance of food. Its diet is 70 percent plants - shoots, fruits, seeds, bark - and the 30 percent remaining consists of larvae, rodents, deer and sloth.
The genetic traits of the bear, which Ruiz-García has been tracing since 1993, have allowed him to identify the differentiated populations of various areas. The expert estimates that there are 3,000 to 6,000 Andean bears in Colombia.
The Colombian Environment Ministry plans to launch a campaign this year to raise awareness in the peasant farming communities in the central, south and southwest regions of the country that the species does not pose a threat to livestock or to cornfields, but rather indicate that a healthy variety of plant and animal species exists in the area.
Furthermore, the Colombian government intends to add the Andean bear, as "a species in danger of extinction" to Appendix I of the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES), Claudia Rodríguez, of the ministry's wildlife division, told Tierramérica.
According to Ecuador's Cuesta, "the range of ecosystems it inhabits and its close links to the indigenous communities make the Andean bear a key species for a conservation process that involves people." However, Quito has not adopted any measures aimed at protecting the species.
In 1990, the spectacled bear population of South America was more than 18,000. "In Ecuador, where there are still nearly 29,000 square km of good habitat, there are 2,018 bears, 11 percent of the total population," and no group has more than 250 adults, said Cuesta.
The World Conservation Union (IUCN) considers the spectacled bear "vulnerable to extinction," but in Ecuador, it is "in danger of extinction" due to the fact that the population has declined 25 percent in the last decade.
In the nature reserves of the southeastern province of Morona Santiago, paths have been found in which "feeding sites, paw prints, fur, nests and other traces are evident," says Luis Puanchir, of the indigenous Shuar community.
"DNA tests of the hair samples gives us an idea of the relative size of the population, seasonal movements, the sex ratio and other evolutionary patterns," said Cuesta.
Hunting, which has been banned since 1970, has not stopped. According to Puanchir, the Indians do not intentionally hunt the spectacled bear, but "if they find one, they will trap it because it provides a great deal of meat and fat."
* Kintto Lucas and María Isabel García are IPS correspondents.
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