Spectacled Bear (Tremarctos ornatus) lives in forest across Andean South America. It feeds on plants and insects. Its conservation status is Vulnerable.
Fascinating facts about the Spectacled Bear
- Males can tip the scales at twice the weight of females, ranging from 100 kg to 200 kg while females stay between 35 kg and 82 kg; on average males weigh about 115 kg and females about 65 kg, making the species the most sexually dimorphic modern bear, rivaling the polar bear.
- Spectacled bears are the only living short-faced bears, the last survivors of the subfamily Tremarctinae that once included giant North-American species like Arctodus and Arctotherium, which vanished about 12,000 years ago. Their unique skull shape, shorter, taller, with larger orbits, reveals a distinct evolutionary path.
- The species inhabits a narrow 200-650 km band along the Andes but stretches over 4,600 km from Venezuela to northern Argentina, preferring humid cloud forests between 1,000 m and 2,700 m elevation. Because they rely on different habitats for seasonal foods, protecting large, connected forest corridors is essential; fragmentation has already cut suitable habitat by 40 % in Ecuador alone, threatening their survival.
- Spectacled bears roam home ranges the size of small towns: males average 23 km² in the wet season and 27 km² in the dry, while females hold 10 km² and 7 km² respectively.
Sources
Every fact above was checked against these pages, and kept only where one of them states it.
At a glance
RangeAndean South America
HabitatForest
DietPlants and insects
About the Spectacled Bear
In the mist-shrouded Andes, the spectacled bear roams with a gentle majesty, its shaggy coat and expressive face a testament to its singular place in the natural world. As it lumbers through the forest, its paws make soft crunching sounds in the underbrush, a soothing serenade that belies the strength and agility that allows it to climb trees and traverse treacherous mountain terrain with ease. With its distinctive spectacle-like markings and quiet, unassuming nature, this vulnerable giant is a poignant reminder of the beauty and fragility of the wild.
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