Behaviour of the Andean Bear

Feeding Behaviour

Andean bears living in cloud forest habitats have a diet largely based on the bamboo-like suro. They eat the juicy stems of the plant by ripping them open using their claws and using the hind limbs to hold them in position. In a similar way, bears in the paramo feed mainly on frailejon plants. With these plants, they feed on the leaves, which they open in the same way as the suro, tearing them open and eating the soft centre. With epiphytic bromeliads and tree fruits, the bears use their climbing skills to ascend trees and access the high growing provisions. Bears also forage for beetles, worms and other various insects as a source of protein in their diet by digging holes in the ground.

Platform construction

Andean bears have a tendency to build platform structures high up in trees for a variety of means. They make platforms by pulling down branches and lianas to form a large flat area resilient enough to take the weight of a full-grown bear.

Probably the initial reason for making platforms was to rest during the day. Bears never sleep in the high platforms due to the risks posed by high winds and other factors. Evolving from bears using the platforms for resting came two other purposes for building platforms. Bears also use platforms for spying on cornfields and cow fields. As explained in other sections, bears eat corn and rarely livestock. Bears acknowledge the threat of farmers in these situations and do all they can, as usual, to avoid human contact. This is a secondary reason of platforms, to make sure the ‘coast is clear’ and pick the moment of invasion or attack. This contradicts the ethologist school of thought that animals only act upon instinct, and do not think coherently.

Intraspecific Interactions

Andean bears are solitary animals, keeping themselves to themselves, and rarely coming into contact with other bears. However, they do interact with each other to a certain extent and leave messages for other bears. Bears leave messages on the trees of the Cedrillo genus. They do this by rubbing their backs against the tree trunks, leaving scratch marks, and urinating or leaving a hormonal secretion around the scratched area. Having olfaction as their principal sense, other bears can detect these signals from far away.

There are two main reasons for leaving messages. The first is a territorial message normally only used by male bears. Being very territorial animals, the males tend to place warning marks on trees to prevent other males from being a competitive threat for food and females. Therefore, the home ranges of male bears overlap only slightly. Females are less territorial and a number of females are known to be found in the same area of the forest without problems.

The other reason for leaving messages is to pass on news to the opposite sex of their presence in a certain part of the forest for mating in the bears’ equivalent of a lonely hearts column. Male bear, 2.2 metres tall, age 11 with spectacles, outgoing nature searching female of the species for a good time in the trees. Occasionally, when a female is on heat, there may be a number of males following her and often fighting for her attentions. It is not known exactly how long bear cubs stay with the mother ion the wild, but we know it must be at least 14 months, as we have seen females with the same cubs over 13 month intervals, with the cub having at least 1 month of age at the time of the first sighting.

Role as a Keystone Species