Spectacled Bear - South American fellow Siberian bear

The spectacle bear is the only representative of the glorious bear family in the South American continent. He prefers to settle mainly in the moist forests of the Andean highlands, but some individuals wander into the lowlands. Sometimes it can be found at an altitude of about two hundred meters above sea level. The spectacle bear has an unconventional diet for his family: he Mostly vegetarian, although sometimes he does not disdain and eating devil. Among the bears a large "pacifist" than he, is only a panda, feeding exclusively on bamboo shoots.

An unusual name for the animal was due to the peculiarity of the color: around the eyes there are light rings resembling glasses. For them, the bear got its name. True, these features of the pigmentation of the hair cover are not all representatives of the species.

Dimensions of the spectacled bear are inferior to their relatives: its length is not more than one hundred and eighty centimeters (not counting the seven centimeter tail), the height at the withers is up to seventy six centimeters, and the mass is up to one hundred and forty kilograms. Like most other representatives of the family, a spectacled bear climbs trees well and builds a lair. True, he does not want to fall into a hibernation, and uses the lair only for growing offspring. In fact - why hibernate when there is so much food around?

The mating period for spectacle bears lasts from April to June, and the pregnancy lasts eight months. The light appears from one to three tiny cubs weighing from three to six hundred grams. But bear cubs grow fast, and already at the age of the month they wander about their mother when she is busy searching for food. Sometimes they use their parent as a mount, climbing on her back during such travels. And in six months they become completely independent and leave the bear, because the spectacled bear is a single animal.

The bears eat everything that comes under the paw. But the main diet - vegetable food: grass, palm trees, various fruits. Particular preference is given to the plants of the family Bromeliads, which constitute up to half the volume of food they eat. The most famous representative of bromeliads is a well-known pineapple. Lip is not stupid for a South American bear!

Finding a large accumulation of fruits at the top of the palm, bears climb there and, building themselves something like a nest or a couch from the branches, live, not going down to the ground, until they eat everything around them. Spectacled bear is genetically a predator and theoretically in a hungry year can devour small animals, but in practice this is extremely rare. Of course, in the tropics, do not find plant food! Spectacled bears do not differ in particular agility. The speed of their movement is simply unnecessary. The speed of the bear from the clones of the Andes very much falls short of the speed of its Siberian brother, whose speed of flight can reach sixty kilometers per hour.

In practice, the spectacle beetle predation is limited to the destruction of termite and the eating of their inhabitants. He also gets bored of the South American peasants, because he often messes with their fields, devouring young shoots of corn and sugar cane. Cases of bears' attack on livestock have also been noted, but this happens infrequently. Peasants have trained animals to stay away from their private property. But photos of bears are popular in rural areas of Colombia, Peru, Ecuador and Venezuela - in places where animals are most spread. Peasants decorate their poor dwellings.