Guardians of the Andes<\/h2>\n
Andean bears also hold profound cultural significance in Andean communities. \u201cIn Andean Quechua culture, Andean bears are known as Ukuku or Ukumary. The Ukukus are mythical beings, half-human and half-bear,\u201d Pillco Huarcaya told Mongabay in a text message. \u201cI wish people knew that Andean bears are the guardians of the mountains and vital ambassadors for the conservation of cloud forests, their primary habitat.\u201d<\/p>\n
To better understand these mountain guardians, in 2023, the team deployed camera collars on three wild Andean bears (Tremarctos ornatus) in Peru\u2019s Kos\u00f1ipata Valley. The first two collars were pilot studies that used National Geographic\u2019s CritterCam. However, the study is based on just one longer-term collar worn by a male bear for four months, revealing many behaviors scientists have never seen before.<\/p>\n
The footage challenged long-held assumptions about Andean bears being solitary vegetarians. Instead, it showed them as social creatures, having both peaceful and aggressive interactions with other bears.<\/p>\n
Love in the Canopy<\/h2>\n
During his four months under observation, the male bear engaged in two remarkable courtship periods. The first, a weeklong encounter in December 2023, documented something never before seen: Andean bears mating in the tree canopy. The bears were filmed coupling high above the ground in at least eight video clips. A second female encountered the male in March, though no mating was recorded.<\/p>\n
\u201cThere seems to be these sort of very intimate moments when he\u2019s with a female and they\u2019re hanging out in the same tree, just looking at one another,\u201d Whitworth said. While Andean bears have long been considered solitary, the footage showed the pairs remaining together for days at a time and sleeping next to each other, suggesting their social lives may be more complex than previously understood.<\/p>\n
The bear\u2019s agility in the canopy wasn\u2019t limited to mating. The bear was also filmed feeding 20-30 meters [65-98 feet] up into the top of a Cecropia tree. \u201cI remember being really shocked when we saw this,\u201d Whitworth said. \u201cThese are fast-growing, very spindly, hollow trees that snap really easily, and we see this bear 30 m up feeding on seeds. Holy smokes!\u201d<\/p>\n
Bears will be bears<\/h2>\n
The footage also revealed that Andean bears are not purely vegetarians but have an omnivorous behavior typical of other bear species. Camera collars caught them eating insects and meat along with fruit, bromeliads and even stinging nettles.<\/p>\n
In one surprising discovery, the collared bear was recorded feeding on the carcass of a woolly monkey (Lagothrix cana), the first documented case of an Andean bear consuming a primate. Nine video clips captured the sequence of events, showing the bear first with the monkey\u2019s carcass on the ground before carrying it into the tree canopy, where the primate\u2019s hand was clearly visible. The footage suggests the bear discovered the already-deceased monkey while foraging rather than hunting it.<\/p>\n
Even more dramatic were two instances of cannibalism caught on camera. In mid-November 2023, just a month before his mating season, the bear was recorded feeding on a dead bear cub over three days, starting with the head and moving to the stomach.<\/p>\n
In a second incident on New Year\u2019s Day 2024, after a long journey crossing the Kos\u00f1ipata Valley, the bear was filmed in the canopy consuming what appeared to be the partially eaten carcass of another small bear.<\/p>\n
While cannibalism has been previously reported in Andean bears in Ecuador, this could be the first documented case of infanticide in Andean bears, a behavior known in other bear species. These videos suggest these bears may be more similar to their northern cousins than previously thought.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhen you look at everything that we\u2019ve recorded,\u201d Whitworth said, \u201cyou realize it\u2019s just like any other bear.\u201d This simple observation might be the study\u2019s most profound finding, Whitworth said. Beneath the mystery and mythology, Andean bears are just bears being bears.<\/p>\n Collaring an Andean bear in Peru\u2019s steep cloud forests required ingenuity and patience. The team used an \u201cIznachi trap,\u201d essentially a large box with a guillotine-style door that drops when a bear enters to take the bait. But first, they had to get the trap into position.<\/p>\n \u201cWe had to design it where it was in panels that could be put on your back, and you could hoist these big metal panels out through these mountains,\u201d Whitworth said. \u201cIt was pretty dangerous.\u201d<\/p>\n Working with a local mechanic, they created a portable version the team could carry in pieces and assemble on-site. Each trap was connected to a satellite transmitter that would immediately alert researchers via email when triggered.<\/p>\n The process of actually catching a bear required careful preparation. \u201cYou don\u2019t arm the trap at first; you kind of want them to just get used to coming in for the bait,\u201d Whitworth said.<\/p>\n Using camera traps, the team spent a year identifying where individual bears hung out before attempting any captures. This allowed them to target specific animals while avoiding females with cubs. The trap\u2019s design ensured only bears could trigger it. \u201cIt\u2019s so heavy that pulling the prongs from this big door is actually real hard for an animal to do,\u201d Whitworth said. \u201cIf a fox comes, they\u2019ll nibble on the meat, but they\u2019re not strong enough to pull it and trigger the trap.\u201d<\/p>\n Once a bear is caught, the teams head to the field to immobilize it using a precise combination of drugs. During the immobilization, veterinarians conducted health evaluations and fitted a collar with GPS tracking onto the bear.<\/p>\n The collars are designed to be released remotely via satellite, typically after about three months. The researchers wait until the bear is in an area where they think they can retrieve the collar, then send a signal to fire a release mechanism. However, the process isn\u2019t always straightforward.<\/p>\n \u201cThe problem is that collar has been on the bear for a few months, and a bunch of gunk can just sort of keep it closed,\u201d Whitworth said. \u201cSo sometimes you don\u2019t find the collar in the place where the release went. It can take two or three hours to wiggle off, and the animal could have moved kilometers.\u201d<\/p>\n Even after successfully tracking a collar\u2019s location, retrieving it from the precipitous terrain proved its own adventure. During one recovery attempt, a swollen river separated the team from their quarry. The solution emerged from the community itself.<\/p>\n \u201cRuth hired a bunch of the local people and we built a makeshift bridge to sort of scramble over this raging torrent,\u201d Whitworth said, highlighting how local knowledge and collaboration often proved crucial to the project\u2019s success.<\/p>\n After retrieving the collar, researchers anxiously waited to see if the data were successfully recorded. Despite these challenges, the team has had been largely successful in recovering their equipment. Across their broader mammal research program, they\u2019ve retrieved 19 out of 20 collars deployed on various species.<\/p>\n This high recovery rate helps justify the steep cost of the technology, around $5,000 per camera collar. The study authors argue the investment is worthwhile when compared with the total cost of bear research.<\/p>\n The bigger challenge, Whitworth noted, is making this technology accessible to researchers in tropical regions where many poorly understood species live. He said that financial support from National Geographic and Rolex allowed the team to take risks on expensive technology, \u201cbut for a lot of researchers in the Global South, those risks are unattainable unless they can get access to the resources.\u201d<\/p>\n Beyond the technical and financial challenges, the footage offered something unique: a glimpse into how an Andean bear experiences its world. Whitworth describes the wonder of seeing from a bear\u2019s perspective, noting that the bear would sometimes stop at a vista and look out over the landscape, much like humans do on a hike.<\/p>\n \u201cHe\u2019ll be walking and then all of a sudden, he\u2019ll just stop in some beautiful part of the Andes and look out over the river and the valley,\u201d Whitworth said. \u201cHe\u2019s probably smelling and looking at his surroundings, but you get the idea that he\u2019s seeing the land, in some respects, how we see it. It\u2019s pretty incredible.\u201d<\/p>\n However, understanding Andean bear behavior isn\u2019t just amusing. These large mammals play an important role in the ecosystem, eating seeds and then dispersing them over large distances. This service helps maintain the immense biodiversity of the cloud forest, an ecosystem critical to the water cycle of the entire Amazon Basin.<\/p>\n Yet the bears\u2019 vital role in the ecosystem is at risk. Listed as threatened by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) Red List, there are estimated to be fewer than 20,000 Andean bears left in the wild.<\/p>\n The species faces pressures from multiple directions. As the climate becomes hotter and drier, their habitat is pushed upward. At the same time, human activities like farming are moving in from above, leaving the bears less room to roam.<\/p>\n \u201cSadly, I don\u2019t see things improving for Andean bears anytime soon,\u201d Whitworth said. \u201cThere are some scary predictions about cloud forest loss under current climate warming scenarios.\u201d<\/p>\n This squeeze on their habitat forces bears to adapt their movements and behavior. They rarely stay within a national park, instead passing through multiple protected areas and community lands\u2014sometimes raiding crops or in very rare cases preying on livestock. This can lead to retaliatory killings by local people. Camera footage paired with GPS tracking can help researchers and communities understand why bears are going to community lands, what risks they take, and perhaps how to avoid conflicts.<\/p>\n In response to these challenges, Pillco Huarcaya\u2019s team is also working to expand their community engagement efforts, transforming their field station into what Whitworth called a \u201ccommunity conservation campus.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cMy work with children has had a significant impact on how the community views Andean bears,\u201d Pillco Huarcaya said. \u201cThrough our \u2018Conservation Ambassadors\u2019 program, children visit the Wayqecha Biological Station to learn about the bears and the cloud forest. Many of them didn\u2019t know about Andean bears before, and now they see them as friends that need to be protected.\u201d<\/p>\n Despite the challenges, Whitworth said he remains cautiously optimistic. The behaviors captured by the camera collars demonstrate the bears\u2019 intelligence and adaptability. \u201cIf there is a species that can change fast and learn quickly,\u201d he says, \u201cit\u2019s a bear.\u201d<\/p>\n Pillco Huarcaya, R., Whitworth, A., Mamani, N., Thomas, M., Condori, E., (2024) Through the eyes of the Andean bear: Camera collar insights into the life of a threatened South American Ursid. Ecology and Evolution 14(12) doi: 10.1002\/ece3.70304<\/p>\nHow to catch a bear<\/h2>\n
Tracking technology<\/h2>\n
Seeds of survival<\/h2>\n
Community conservation<\/h2>\n
Citation:<\/h2>\n