Freckles
Andean, or also known as spectacled bears are very cute
bears to look at. They have a shorter face compared to other bears and also
have a beautiful fall colored markings on their face and chest. They are the
equivalent to our North American black bear in South America and are the only
surviving species within the Tremarctinae subfamily. At our zoo, we have two Andean
bears, Ditka and Freckles.
Ditka and Freckles sure like their fruit and veggies when we
do bear feeding. This is not surprising since these bears actually prefer more
of an herbivorous diet versus carnivorous even though they are omnivores. Their skull is better adapted to consuming
plants more than meat. Only about 5-7% of their diet contains meat.
On the conservation status spectrum, these bears are
considered vulnerable. There is not a
lot of conservation efforts being made for these specific bears and are largely
unprotected. An interesting fact about using these bears as resources though is
that in Chinese traditional medicine, their gall bladders are very expensive
with the international market. I wonder how using specifically using these
bears’ gall bladder works in a medical setting.
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