Final Preparations

By: David Jackson, Project coordinator, Andean Bear Project

Nine days remained for the bears and I in Yanahurco. These days were to be crucial, with the bears adapting to their new climate and their new foods. In these days, I worked like a mule, cutting down their natural food, (puyas), and carting sacks full of them for half an hour back to the bear enclosure on my shoulders. Occasionally I got the privilege of using a horse, for which I was very grateful for. Now for those of you that aren’t familiar with puyas, they are heavy, very tough pineapple type plants, with the sharpest spines imaginable covering their leaves. I always had to keep in mind as I was carrying the damn things, “Just imagine how the poor bears eat these things!!!”

Over the final days, the bears ate numerous puyas. Primarily, I was a bit worried about Beto; as he was completely disinterested in the puyas and relied always on his ‘adopted brother’ Leo to open up the food for him and leave him to it. It proved difficult to persuade him to eat his own food, which became frustrating and worrying for me. I would throw them two puyas at opposite sides of the cage, only for Beto to give his no more than a sniff before going over to Leo and joining in the feast there. I even locked Leo in the lockout cage whilst feeding Beto; what did Beto do… he went straight over to the lockout and embraced Leo through the mesh. The two bears really have built up such a strong bond after spending so much time together in rehabilitation.

Although I believe they will eventually go their separate ways (since the Andean bear is generally a solitary animal), it’s a very reassuring thought that they will be there for each other in their first and most important days in the wild. So, during their time in the Yanahurco enclosure, they made great progress. Beto eventually learned to eat his own puyas, although he still often insisted in eating with Leo. They seemed so much more content in this new environment, and were constantly play-fighting and scampering around like children let loose in a fun park. As the week went on, they also continuously re-enacted the Great Escape, taking on the parts of Steve McQueen and Charles Bronson in their escape attempts. Beto took his collar off. They searched and found weak points in the mesh and tore away at it. Amazingly, they even showed coordination and teamwork, as Beto performed as a ladder whilst Leo climbed on his back, got up onto the doors’ framework and swung on the overhanging mesh. This was a great sign of their readiness to tackle the world outside, although it meant extra work for the extremely working BBC team in repairs. After observing the bears constantly for nine days in the paramo enclosure, I was very confident they were ready to fend for themselves. Now came the moment of truth. The release day!

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