Community Involvement

The conservation of the Andean Bear is a problem that will not be solved by science alone. The biggest threat to the Andean Bear is humans: habitat encroachment, hunting and illegal trade are the main reasons for the decline of this great species. It is only once both local and international communities gain an understanding of these bears and an appreciation of their importance that we will be able to remove the threats that humans pose.

The Andean Bear Project aims to form strong relationships with local communities that share land with the bears. Despite living with bears for generations, many locals know little about them due to their elusive nature. Many villagers fear that the bears will attack them or their family, despite there never having been a reported attack by a wild bear on a human.

Volunteers are encouraged to chat with local farmers and villagers that they meet while working on the project. Most local farmers and villagers are very curious when they see our radio equipment. We let locals know what we are doing and why we are doing it.

One of the biggest sources of conflict between bears and local farmers is the bears' tendancy to eat corn. Many of the regions where bears live are extremely poor and locals can not afford to lose their only source of income to the bears.

If we hear of a bear invading a corn field in an area where we work we investigate the site and, where a significant amount of corn has been eaten, we compensate the farmer as much as we can. This lessens the ill will towards the bears and in general bears are no longer hunted in the areas where work.