Andean Bear Collaboration
Posted at 2:39 pm May 18, 2009 by Russ Van Horn
Dry scrub/desert habitat like this is used seasonally by Andean bears living in the adjacent dry forests.
The Andean bear program has grown, both in scope and potential, through a new collaboration between the San Diego Zoo and SBC. [Editor's note: Andean and spectacled bears are the same species.] This nonprofit organization has been working in the dry forest of northwestern Peru since 2006, building strong relationships with the local communities and making incredible discoveries about bear biology and ecology.
In addition to identifying 30 bears, SBC researchers have observed foraging and scent-marking behavior, described the first three maternal dens ever discovered by scientists, and begun monitoring the space use of three bears by collaring them with GPS satellite transmitters. Whew!
Most of the year, in most years, the dry forest lives up to its name: it’s dry. And hot. Only during some rainy seasons does it begin to be as densely lush and green as the cloud forest, which is what biologists have thought of as primary Andean bear habitat. However, there are historical reports of Andean bears living in dry and even coastal habitats, and it’s already clear from SBC’s work that the bears are reproducing and surviving in habitat that looks pretty challenging to humans. In fact, when I visited an area near SBC’s study site in 2007, the heat and slope made it one of the most challenging hikes I’d ever been on. Since then I’ve had tougher hikes, in southern Peru, but that’s another story. Although I’ll return soon to the cloud forest where I’ll continue to work, we can learn and accomplish a great deal for bear conservation by expanding our horizons, broadening the way we think about Andean bears, and working in the dry forest with SBC.
Stay tuned, it’s going to be an interesting year!
Russ Van Horn is a senior researcher with the San Diego Zoo’s Institute for Conservation Research.
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May 18th, 2009 at 6:08 pm
Hi Russ. This is still another example of our zoo’s collaboration with conservation groups all over the world. I’m so glad you’ve joined with the SBC, and will be looking forward to still more informative blogs from you. Thanks for all your good work so far!
May 25th, 2009 at 12:55 pm
This doesn’t look very friendly habitat for humans – do the bears have it mostly to themselves or are there other large mammals using this habitat as well?
Russ responds: Although at first glance the habitat doesn’t look very friendly to humans or bears, it actually supports a wide variety of wildlife. In addition to the bears, and humans of the pre-Inca Moche and Sicán cultures, there were originally several other large and medium-sized mammals living in this area. Although a few of these species no longer live there, populations of most of the original species still exist. The original wildlife included foxes, guanacos (relatives of llamas, vicunas, and alpacas), pumas, ocelots, tayras (a large relative of weasels), collared peccaries, and white-tailed deer. Plus, there are a number of smaller mammals, and an incredible diversity of birds. It may not look like a friendly place to live, but given the opportunity, wild animals are often surprisingly tenacious.
May 28th, 2009 at 5:11 pm
Russ – thanks for the information. What do you hope to do when you return to the cloud forest study site?
Moderator’s note: Russ is back in Peru right now. He’ll be sending us a post soon!