Scientists in Peru recently attempted to get a look into the habits of one of the world's most elusive bear species — the Andean bear — by finding one and attaching a camera to it. The resulting look into the bear's life turned into a bit more than they had bargained for, Mongabay reported.
Some of the bear's more interesting behaviors included eating, and also mating, high up in the precarious treetops. Also, cannibalism.
"I remember being really shocked when we saw this," Andrew Whitworth, executive director of Osa Conservation and one of the study's co-authors, told Mongabay, somehow referring only to the eating part. "These are fast-growing, very spindly, hollow trees that snap really easily, and we see this bear 30 [meters] up feeding on seeds. Holy smokes!"
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The study's lead author, National Geographic explorer Ruthmery Pillco Huarcaya, was driven to understand more about Andean bears due to their important place in Indigenous Quechua culture.
"In Andean Quechua culture, Andean bears are known as Ukuku or Ukumary. The Ukukus are mythical beings, half-human and half-bear," Pillco Huarcaya, who is herself Quechua, told Mongabay. "I wish people knew that Andean bears are the guardians of the mountains and vital ambassadors for the conservation of cloud forests, their primary habitat."
Their findings were published in the journal Ecology and Evolution.
The cannibalism was recorded on two separate occasions. In the first, the bear was observed feeding on the carcass of a bear cub, which it may have also killed. In the second, it was observed eating another small bear or cub.
This behavior, shocking though it may seem, is actually not all that unusual for other species of bears, which are known to turn to infanticide and cannibalism as opportunistic means of survival. While it could signal the bear could not find enough of its regular food sources, that is not necessarily the case.
Either way, the scientists behind the study hope that it leads to increased conservation efforts — particularly among the local community.
"My work with children has had a significant impact on how the community views Andean bears," Pillco Huarcaya told Mongabay. "Through our 'Conservation Ambassadors' program, children visit the Wayqecha Biological Station to learn about the bears and the cloud forest. Many of them didn't know about Andean bears before, and now they see them as friends that need to be protected."
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