Wildlife
Spectacled bears are the last remaining representatives of the short-faced bears, and are the only bear species found in South America. They are found throughout the Andes, from western Venezuela to the northwest of Argentina, and feel equally at home in either high altitude grassland or deep in the cloud forest. These adaptable little bears are easily recognised by their distinctive yellow eye patches. They while away the hours in treetops, occasionally feeling the urge to become productive when they build huge platforms out of broken branches, to help them get at out of reach fruit.
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Spectacled bear cubs
Flowering puyas provide an irresistible honey supply for young spectacled bears.
Flowering puyas provide an irresistible honey supply for young spectacled bears.
Climbing lesson
A spectacled bear cub needs a bit of work on his climbing skills.
A spectacled bear cub needs a bit of work on his climbing skills.
Species range provided by WWF's Wildfinder.
The Spectacled bear can be found in a number of locations including: South America. Find out more about these places and what else lives there.
The following habitats are found across the Spectacled bear distribution range. Find out more about these environments, what it takes to live there and what else inhabits them.
Discover what these behaviours are and how different plants and animals use them.
Additional data source: Animal Diversity Web
Vulnerable
Population trend: Decreasing
Year assessed: 2008
Classified by: IUCN 3.1
The spectacled bear (Tremarctos ornatus), also known as the Andean bear and locally as ukuko, jukumari, or ucumari, is the last remaining short-faced bear (subfamily Tremarctinae) and the closest living relative to the Florida spectacled bear and short-faced bears of the Middle Pleistocene to Late Pleistocene age. Spectacled bears are the only surviving species of bear native to South America, and the only surviving member of the subfamily Tremarctinae.
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Farmland
Mountain grassland
Tropical dry forest
Rainforest
Helpless young
Tree dweller
Adapted to climbing
Herbivorous
Altitude tolerant
Maternal care
Nocturnal
Seed dispersal
Chemical communication
Sexual dimorphism
Viviparous