Spectacled bear (Tremarctos ornatus)

Spectacled bears are the last remaining representatives of the short-faced bears, and are the only bear species found in South America.

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About the Spectacled bear

The Spectacled Bear (Tremarctos ornatus), also known as the Andean Bear and locally as ukuko, jukumari or ucumari is the closest living kin of the short-faced bears of the Middle Pleistocene to Late Pleistocene age.

The Spectacled Bear is a relatively small species of bear native to South America. It has black fur with a distinctive beige-coloured marking across its face and upper chest. Males are a third larger than females. Males can weigh 130 – 200 kilograms (286 – 440 lb), and females 35 –82 kilograms (77 – 181 lb). They are found in several areas of northern and western South America, including eastern Panama, western Venezuela, Colombia, Ecuador, Peru, western Bolivia, and northwestern Argentina. Spectacled bears are the only surviving species of bear native to South America, and the only surviving member of the subfamily Tremarctinae. Their survival has depended mostly on their ability to climb even the tallest trees of the Andes.

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Scientific Classification

Class: Mammal (Mammalia)

Order: Carnivora

Family: Bear (Ursidae)

Genus: Tremarctos

Species: Spectacled Bear (ornatus)

Common Names

Andean bear

Where can I see them?

Map showing the distribution of the Spectacled bear species

This region contains the following habitats:

Species range provided by WWF's Wildfinder

Conservation Status

The Spectacled bear is Vulnerable (IUCN 3.1)

  1. EX - Extinct
  2. EW
  3. CR - Threatened
  4. EN - Threatened
  5. VU - Threatened
  6. NT
  7. LC - Least concern

Population trend: Decreasing

Year assessed: 2008

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