It is the only bear native to South America. It is a relatively small bear compared to his larger cousins to the north, like the Grizzly, Kodiak or Polar bear. Males may weigh up sometimes to 200 kg and the smaller females to 80 kg. They have a heavy black fur with lighter patches [white to creamy] around their eyes, from where they got their name. Those patches can extend to the neck and upper body parts and each bear has its own individual markings. Their best sense is their smell.

Order Family Genus Specie

CARNIVORA URSIDAE Tremarctos T. ornatus

The spectacled or Andean bear is omnivorous, eating everything from fruits, plants, larvae, insects to meat. It might hunt smaller animals and eat carrion [dead animals] but mostly it leads a vegetarian life. One of its preferred fruit in Ecuador is that of a tall terrestrial bromeliad called Puya, which grows in higher altitudes, and so helps it to disperse its seeds. They are solitary animals and only meet for a few days to mate. Females have usually a litter of 1 to 2 cubs after a gestation period of around seven months. The young stay with their mother till they are sexually mature and then find their own territory.

Range Habitat Ecuador Status Colombia - Bolivia Wide range of ecosystems Forested Andean regions Vulnerable
	front            hind [33 % of actual size]

Although the spectacled bear can live from lower elevations to right up the glacier, and is not harmful to humans, our only bear specie is threatened by habitat destruction, cutting of forests and extended agriculture. As it needs a large undisturbed territory to survive, nowadays it can be only found in the most remote regions of the Ecuadorian Andes. Unfortunately, it also represents a hunting trophy to some people and some get killed because a few believe in eating parts of their sexual organs will increase their own sexual powers. This myth, which is especially widespread in Asian countries, not only decimates the Andean bear but to a much higher degree, the more powerful northern cousins.
In Canada often dead grizzly bodies are found with only the paws and sexual organs cut away, which are then sold into the Asian market for thousands of dollars.