Through the eyes of the Andean bear: Camera collar insights into the life of a threatened South American Ursid

Abstract Due to Andean bears' propensity for inhabiting challenging environments and terrain, their wild ecology remains poorly understood, especially when compared to other members of the Ursidae family. In one of the steepest, wettest regions of the Andes, the Kosñipata Valley of southeastern...

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Main Authors: Ruthmery Pillco Huarcaya, Andrew Whitworth, Norma Mamani, Mark Thomas, Elias Condori
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Wiley 2024-12-01
Series:Ecology and Evolution
Subjects:
Online Access:https://doi.org/10.1002/ece3.70304
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author Ruthmery Pillco Huarcaya
Andrew Whitworth
Norma Mamani
Mark Thomas
Elias Condori
author_facet Ruthmery Pillco Huarcaya
Andrew Whitworth
Norma Mamani
Mark Thomas
Elias Condori
author_sort Ruthmery Pillco Huarcaya
collection DOAJ
description Abstract Due to Andean bears' propensity for inhabiting challenging environments and terrain, their wild ecology remains poorly understood, especially when compared to other members of the Ursidae family. In one of the steepest, wettest regions of the Andes, the Kosñipata Valley of southeastern Peru, we attached and retrieved camera‐borne collars on three wild free‐ranging Andean bears. From just one longer term camera collar deployed on a single individual over a period of 4 months, we observed a variety of rare or previously undocumented natural history observations. These include courtship and mating behaviors, social interactions with conspecifics, novel dietary items of previously unrecorded fruit consumption, cannibalism, potential infanticide, the sole documented case of primate consumption, and evidence of geophagy. The wealth of novel natural history insights gained from just 4 months of camera collar data of this poorly studied species has elucidated numerous avenues warranting further investigation.
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institution Kabale University
issn 2045-7758
language English
publishDate 2024-12-01
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series Ecology and Evolution
spelling doaj-art-2b4fd3079fdb4ef6adc05a4617e8c34c2024-12-27T11:24:39ZengWileyEcology and Evolution2045-77582024-12-011412n/an/a10.1002/ece3.70304Through the eyes of the Andean bear: Camera collar insights into the life of a threatened South American UrsidRuthmery Pillco Huarcaya0Andrew Whitworth1Norma Mamani2Mark Thomas3Elias Condori4Asociación para la Conservación de la Cuenca Amazónica (ACCA) Cusco PeruOsa Conservation Washington DC USAAsociación para la Conservación de la Cuenca Amazónica (ACCA) Cusco PeruAsociación para la Conservación de la Cuenca Amazónica (ACCA) Cusco PeruAsociación para la Conservación de la Cuenca Amazónica (ACCA) Cusco PeruAbstract Due to Andean bears' propensity for inhabiting challenging environments and terrain, their wild ecology remains poorly understood, especially when compared to other members of the Ursidae family. In one of the steepest, wettest regions of the Andes, the Kosñipata Valley of southeastern Peru, we attached and retrieved camera‐borne collars on three wild free‐ranging Andean bears. From just one longer term camera collar deployed on a single individual over a period of 4 months, we observed a variety of rare or previously undocumented natural history observations. These include courtship and mating behaviors, social interactions with conspecifics, novel dietary items of previously unrecorded fruit consumption, cannibalism, potential infanticide, the sole documented case of primate consumption, and evidence of geophagy. The wealth of novel natural history insights gained from just 4 months of camera collar data of this poorly studied species has elucidated numerous avenues warranting further investigation.https://doi.org/10.1002/ece3.70304cannibalismManuspectacled beartechnologytelemetryUrsidae
spellingShingle Ruthmery Pillco Huarcaya
Andrew Whitworth
Norma Mamani
Mark Thomas
Elias Condori
Through the eyes of the Andean bear: Camera collar insights into the life of a threatened South American Ursid
Ecology and Evolution
cannibalism
Manu
spectacled bear
technology
telemetry
Ursidae
title Through the eyes of the Andean bear: Camera collar insights into the life of a threatened South American Ursid
title_full Through the eyes of the Andean bear: Camera collar insights into the life of a threatened South American Ursid
title_fullStr Through the eyes of the Andean bear: Camera collar insights into the life of a threatened South American Ursid
title_full_unstemmed Through the eyes of the Andean bear: Camera collar insights into the life of a threatened South American Ursid
title_short Through the eyes of the Andean bear: Camera collar insights into the life of a threatened South American Ursid
title_sort through the eyes of the andean bear camera collar insights into the life of a threatened south american ursid
topic cannibalism
Manu
spectacled bear
technology
telemetry
Ursidae
url https://doi.org/10.1002/ece3.70304
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