In a previously unexplored area of the Peruvian Andes, biologists have discovered a spectacled bear with golden fur for the first time. This extremely rare specimen is strikingly similar to the children’s book bear “Paddington”, which, according to the story, is also said to come from Peru. The balance of the remaining normally dark brown spectacled bears is also positive: at least in this remote area, their population is larger than expected, as the team found.
The spectacled bear (Tremarctos ornatus) is the only native bear species in South America and is considered to be the only remaining representative of the short-snouted bear. Similar to many other bears, spectacled bears are omnivores and mostly live as solitary animals. Because they are very shy and rare, little is known about their behavior. “Because the animals are so rare, they are difficult to research and therefore little is known about their behavior,” explains Wilhelm Osterman from the University of Gothenburg.
Rare and very shy
In addition, the spectacled bears have lost large parts of their former habitat. While fleeing from humans and their encroachments on the natural landscapes of South America, the bears have retreated to the heights of the Andes. There they play an important role in the ecosystem and are therefore regarded as so-called umbrella species: If the spectacled bear is protected, this has positive consequences for many other animal and plant species. But the population of spectacled bears has declined sharply. It is estimated that there are only around 25,000 animals left. The Red List therefore classifies them as critically endangered.
Osterman and his colleagues were accordingly delighted when they found out about a previously unexplored area during a research trip to northern Peru, where several spectacled bears were supposed to be. “That immediately piqued our interest because so far only a few people have had the opportunity to observe the animals in the wild,” says Julia Osterman from the University of Halle-Wittenberg. Together with the local residents, the researchers developed a plan to observe the animals in the Copal region. During several explorations, the team was actually able to see the animals – up to four in a day
A spectacled bear with “golden” fur
The scientists made a surprising discovery: They observed a spectacled bear with an almost golden fur for the first time. Usually the animals only have dark, almost black fur. “Seeing a real golden bear was something special,” says co-author Fanny Cornejo of Stony Brook University. The newly discovered “gold bear” with its light fur color is astonishingly similar to the children’s book character “Paddington Bear” by the British author Michael Bond. According to this story, Paddington is also a spectacled bear with golden fur and comes from Peru. However, the researchers cannot explain why the fur of the bear now observed in Peru was golden and not black. Further investigations would be necessary for this.
In the course of their observational study, the researchers also took stock of the spectacled bear population in their study area. For this purpose, every newly sighted animal was photographed and its behavior recorded. Using the face patterns specific to each animal, Osterman and his team were able to distinguish and count the individual bears. Their data shows that there are more than ten animals per 100 square kilometers in this remote Andean region. The density of spectacled bears there is about twice as high as previously assumed. Accordingly, the population of this rare and threatened species in northern Peru could possibly be larger than feared.
However, there is still no reason to give the all-clear, as the researchers emphasize: The calculations are presumably based on a local hotspot and therefore cannot simply be transferred to the whole of South America. At least it now seems clear that the examined region plays a particularly important role for spectacled bears. That could enable more targeted protective measures. “Of course, it would be ideal to put large areas under protection, but that’s not always realistic. Smaller protective areas are easier to communicate to the population and could also be of great benefit, ”says Wilhelm Osterman.
Source: Martin Luther University Halle-Wittenberg; Technical article: Ursus, doi: 10.2192 / URSUS-D-20-00005.3