In November 2008, the Second International Symposium on the Andean Bear was held in Lima, Peru. The First International Symposium on the Spectacled Bear was held in 1988 in Chicago, so the time seemed right for round two. (Note: spectacled bears are now referred to as Andean bears to denote their origin.) Ron Swaisgood, Ph.D., and I both attended, giving presentations, participating in workshops, and assisting with different aspects of the conference management. In addition, the San Diego Zoo provided financial support for this conference, as did numerous other conservation organizations.
I am pleased to announce that you can now see much of what Ron and I saw presented. The Wildlife Conservation Society and several of its South American personnel, especially Isaac Goldstein, were instrumental in catalyzing and organizing this conference, and they’ve now opened a Web site where the program and many of the actual slide presentations can be seen or downloaded. Most of the presentations were, of course, in Spanish, but several were not, and the images and figures need little translation. So, if you’re curious, please navigate your Web browser here…
Russ Van Horn is a senior researcher for the San Diego Zoo Institute for Conservation Research. Read his previous post, Andean Bears: Two Steps Forward.
Great to have this access to the Symposium. Thanks, Russ!