The spectacled bear is the only species of bear in South America and one of the most emblematic mammals of the tropical Andes.

Physical Description
Spectacled bears are robust, with a short and muscular neck, short but strong legs. As with all bears, spectacled bears walk on the soles of their feet and have longer front than rear legs, making them excellent climbers.

Fur is usually black, although it can have dark red-brown tones on the upper-parts. Spectacled bears sometimes have white to pale yellow markings around the muzzle, on the neck and the chest. These markings may also be present around the eyes, which is the reason for its common name.

Size
Height: 1.5-2m
Weight 140-175kg
Males are up to 50% larger than females.

Social Structure
Spectacled bears are generally diurnal, shy, peaceful and elusive, avoiding contact with humans. They are usually solitary, but may occasionally be found in relatively high concentrations, when favourite food items are abundant.

Life Cycle
Cubs are born with their eyes shut and weigh about 300g. Eyes are opened after the first month. Cubs are black in colour and already show the white or yellowish 'spectacle' markings. The young grow fairly quickly and at 180 days they already weigh 10kg. Cubs remain with the mother for at least one year after birth. Spectacled bears are estimated to live for just over 20 years.

Breeding
Pairs are formed only for reproduction between March and October, indicating an ability to reproduce at different times of the year. Bears breed for the first time when they are between 4 and 7 years old. The gestation period oscillates between 160 and 255 days, and a litter contains between one and three cubs. Bears generally give birth from September to February.

Diet
Spectacled bears have an omnivorous diet, although they are fairly specialized in fruit and different parts of several plants. They feed high up in trees as well as on plants growing on the ground. When ripe fruit is not available, bears live off fibrous parts of plants such as bromeliad hearts, soft parts of palms, orchid bulbs and even tree bark. In addition, they eat insects, small rodents and birds.

Current Population and Distribution
The spectacled bear is found from Venezuela to Northern Argentina, including Colombia, Ecuador, Peru and Bolivia. According to some researchers, the greatest number of bears is to be found on the borders between Colombia, Ecuador and Peru.

Recent estimated population sizes for most areas are small, with a total estimate for the Northern Andes (excluding most of Peru, Bolivia and northern Argentina) comprised anywhere between 6,000 and 10,000 individuals.

The main threats to spectacled bears throughout the region are hunting and habitat loss and degradation.

Loss and fragmentation of the species habitat is due to the construction of roads, the destruction of forests for illicit crops such as coca and opium poppy, and the use of grazing areas for cattle farming. Protected areas conserving bear habitats and some of their populations are not large enough for the species' survival throughout its range.

Current land use patterns include the felling of trees, land clearing, and extraction of timber and firewood for farms in the higher mountainous areas. Along with infrastructure development (highways and roads, oil pipelines, gas pipelines, dams, and high tension lines), the advances in mining, petroleum exploitation and other industries, and the expansion of illegal crops have fragmented the original habitat of the spectacled bear into at least 113 patches of wilderness in the mountainous region between Venezuela and northern Peru.

Hunting is one of the major causes of population reduction of this species. Local inhabitants kill bears for diverse reasons, including subsistence hunting, protection against attacks to livestock and crops (especially maize), fear of the animal due to cultural reasons, It is calculated that around 200 bears are hunted down each year in the region.

Spectacled bears are also hunted for parts used in wildlife trade. The gall bladders are valued in traditional oriental medicine and can fetch a high price on the international market; recent estimates put the price at US$150 for one, which is 5 times the average monthly wage in Ecuador. There is a large market for bear paws, with one paw bringing in between US$10 and US$20 .

Many of these threats can be largely attributed to the inequity in land tenure. In the most productive areas of the Northern Andes, property is concentrated in the hands of a few, which means that the poorest inhabitants are forced to occupy the limited land available on the fragile hillsides of mountains inhabited by the spectacled bear.

The conditions of rural poverty and the worsening of social conflicts in these countries have intensified this process, which, in the case of Colombia, has been undoubtedly associated with armed conflict and illegal crops.