Behavior and diet Spectacled bear

skull



at zoo in venezuela

spectacled bears 1 of 4 extant bear species habitually arboreal, alongside american black bear (ursus americanus) , asian black bear (u. thibetanus), , sun bear (helarctos malayanus). in andean cloud forests, spectacled bears may active both during day , night, in peruvian desert reported bed down under vegetative cover during day. continued survival alongside humans has depended on ability climb tallest trees of andes. retreat presence of humans, climbing trees. once tree, may build platform, perhaps aid in concealment, rest , store food on. although spectacled bears solitary , tend isolate 1 avoid competition, not territorial. have been recorded feed in small groups @ abundant food sources. males reported have average home range of 23 km (8.9 sq mi) during wet season , 27 km (10 sq mi) during dry season. females reported have average home range of 10 km (3.9 sq mi) in wet season , 7 km (2.7 sq mi) in dry season. when encountered humans or other spectacled bears, react in docile cautious manner, unless intruder seen threat or mother s cubs endangered. other bears, mothers protective of young , have attacked poachers. there single reported human death due spectacled bear, occurred while being hunted , shot. predators of cubs include cougars (puma concolor) , possibly male spectacled bears. bears appear avoid jaguars, jaguar has considerably different habitat preferences, not overlap spectacled bear in altitude on specific mountain slope, , overlaps (900m) in altitude if entire cordillera oriental considered based upon unpublished data. generally, threat against adult bears humans. longest-lived captive bear, @ national zoo in washington, dc, attained lifespan of 36 years , 8 months. lifespan in wild has not been studied, bears believed commonly live 20 years or more unless run afoul of humans.

spectacled bears more herbivorous other bears; 5 7% of diets meat. common foods these bears include cactus, bromeliads (especially puya ssp., tillandsia ssp. , guzmania ssp.) palm nuts, bamboo hearts, frailejon (espeletia spp.), orchid bulbs, fallen fruit on forest floor, , unopened palm leaves. peel tree bark eat nutritious second layer. of vegetation tough open or digest animals, , bear 1 of few species in range exploit these food sources. spectacled bear has largest zygomatic mandibular muscles relative body size , shortest muzzle of living bear, surpassing relative size of giant panda s (ailuropoda melanoleuca) morphology here. not coincidentally, both species known extensively consuming tough, fibrous plants. unlike ursid bears fourth premolar has more well-developed protoconid, adaptation shearing flesh, fourth premolar of spectacled bears has blunt lophs 3 pulp cavities instead of two, , can have 3 roots instead of 2 characterize ursid bears. musculature , tooth characteristics designed support stresses of grinding , crushing vegetation. besides giant panda, spectacled bear perhaps herbivorous living bear species. these bears eat cultivated plants, such sugarcane (saccharum ssp.), honey (made apis ssp.), , corn (zea mays), , have been known travel above tree line berries , more ground-based bromeliads. when food abundant, such large corn fields, 9 individual bears have fed close each other in single vicinity. animal prey quite small, these bears can prey on adult deer, llama (lama glama) , domestic cattle (bos primigenius taurus) , horses (equus ferus caballus). animal prey has included rabbits, mice, other rodents, birds @ nest (especially ground-nesting birds tinamous or lapwings (vanellus ssp.)), arthropods, , carrion. accused of killing livestock, cattle, , raiding corn fields. allegedly, bears become habituated eating cattle, bears more eat cattle carrion , farmers may accidentally assume spectacled bear killed them. due fear of loss of stock, bears may killed on sight.

reproduction

mating may occur @ time of year, activity peaks in april , june, @ beginning of wet season , corresponding peak of fruit-ripening. mating pair 1 2 weeks, during copulate multiple times. births occur in dry season, between december , february. gestation period 5.5 8.5 months. 1 3 cubs may born, 4 being rare , 2 being average. cubs born eyes closed , weigh 300 330 g (11 12 oz) each. although species not give birth during hibernation cycle northern bear species, births occur in small den , female waits until cubs can see , walk before leaves them. size of litter has been positively correlated both weight of female , abundance , variety of food sources, particularly degree fruiting temporally predictable. cubs stay female 1 year before striking out on own. breeding maturity estimated reached @ between 4 , 7 years of age both sexes, based solely on captive bears.