Scientific Classification
KINGDOM: Animalia
PHYLUM: Chordata
CLASS: Mammalia
ORDER: Carnivora
FAMILY: Ursidae
GENUS: Tremarctos
SPECIES: T. ornatus
Conservation Status
Male spectacled bears can weigh twice as much as females even though they have roughly the same body dimensions. Height can range from 4 to almost 7 feet, with males weighing from 220 to 440 pounds and females from 77 to 180 pounds!
Main fur color can differentiate between jet black and reddish, but every spectacled bear has the cream-colored markings on its chest and face. Each pattern is unique allowing bears to identify each other.
The spectacled bear’s muscular body, sharp claws, and long front limbs make them excellent, agile climbers.
The spectacled bear, named for the unique markings around its face, is the only species of bears found in South America. They usually inhabit cloud forests at high altitudes, but can be seen searching for food in other areas such as scrubland, grassland, arid forests, etc. Spectacled bears can be found in these cloud forests between elevations of 1,600 feet all the way up to 8,900 feet!
Food is so plentiful in the cloud forests that spectacled bears don’t need to hibernate. Even though the spectacled bear is the largest land carnivore on that part of South America, only about 5% to 7% of their diet is meat. Their vegetation of choice includes cacti, palm nuts, fallen fruit, and more. The spectacled bear has the largest mandibular muscles relative to its body size compared to any other bear species to aid in chewing and grinding their food.
Mating season for spectacled bears varies slightly but will usually take place at the beginning of the wet season. Once pregnant, females will carry their young for 5-9 months, eventually giving birth in a small den to 1-3 cubs. Cubs are born weighing a little less than a pound and will be blind for about 40 days. Spectacled bear cubs will depend fully on their mother for the first few months of life before setting out on their own after one year.
Spectacled bears are one of only four living bear species that spend most of their lives in trees. Once up high, they will build platforms in the trees to rest and store food on. They isolate themselves from other spectacled bears but are not territorial.
