Andean Bear Symposium
Posted at 10:34 am December 1, 2008 by Russ Van HornRuss Van Horn is studying Andean bears in Peru. Read his previous blog,
Andean Bears: Ready for Their Closeup?
I’ve just left Lima after attending the Second International Symposium on Andean Bears. Nearly all of the scientists currently working on Andean bears attended this symposium, which was the first such meeting in 20 years. Dr. Ron Swaisgood, Division Head of the San Diego Zoo’s Applied Animal Ecology Division, presented an overview of reintroduction programs based on his experience working with several species, and he was one of three panelists in a lively workshop on rescue, rehabilitation, and reintroduction of Andean bears.
I presented the preliminary results of a survey conducted on captive Andean bears in North America. This survey is a joint effort between various groups at the San Diego Zoo: veterinarians, husbandry staff, and researchers. We’re working to identify the risk factors associated with chronic and progressive hair loss among captive Andean bears so that we can then form and test hypotheses about the underlying cause and develop effective responses. Through our work, we’ve realized that this condition is relatively common among female Andean bears in captivity, and we’ve formed some hypotheses as to what might cause this hair loss. We need to collect additional data, though, before we can reach conclusions and suggest treatments or preventative measures.
The symposium was an exciting opportunity to learn about the other work being conducted on Andean bears, both in situ and ex situ. There is some great conservation science being conducted by several South American researchers, and we discussed research and conservation goals. I believe we’ve laid the groundwork for some productive collaborations, but only time will tell how these develop. Because over 100 people attended the conference, exhibiting a mix of passion and scientific rigor, I suspect it will not take another 20 years before the Third International Symposium on Andean Bears is held.
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December 2nd, 2008 at 10:39 am
thanks for an interesting post! it’s funny that with so much interest and research going on about the andean bear, that it has been 20-years since the last symposiam. why do you think that happened? probably because no one bothered to organize a meeting of the minds and researchers. maybe no one realized how much interest was actually out there!!! anyway, the ice is now broken, and you can pool your research and ideas…………! it is funny that in captivity they loose their hair. I have seen this, and it looks kind of wierd. stress related possibly? keep us up-dated okay? bye, nancy
December 12th, 2008 at 12:53 pm
i love houdini and tommy
January 6th, 2009 at 2:36 pm
Hi Nancy,
I’m not sure why so much time elapsed between the first and second symposiums. I suspect, though, that one reason for the delay was that the first symposium was smaller, and mostly organized and attended by North Americans, working with captive bears. If only a few of the critical people found themselves too busy to organize a follow-up symposium during the following years, then the momentum would be lost.
We’re planning to continue our investigation into hair loss among captive Andean bears. One of our hypotheses is that the hair loss is linked to stress, but we’re still collecting data to test this idea, and identify the source(s) of the stress.