Depending on the season, spectacled bears travel between habitats such as dense cloud forests, paramos, scrub deserts, and high-altitude grasslands, but prefer humid montane forests because of the abundance of food.
Spectacled bears have a reputation of being adaptable and inhabit a wide variety of habitats throughout their range. It is believed that the bears travel between habitat types depending on the season, but the timing of these migrations and what drives them is unknown.
They are most commonly found in dense cloud, or Andean forests, where there is an abundance of food and shelter. They are also found in high Andean moorland, (páramo’s), dry forests, scrub deserts, and high-altitude grasslands.
The best habitats for spectacled bears are humid to very humid montane forests. Generally, the wetter the forests, the more food species there are that can support bears.
• Image | © Tambako The Jaguar, Some Rights Reserved, (CC BY-ND 2.0)
• Sources | (Fenner, 2012; Fernando del Moral; Kattan, et al., 2004; Macdonald, 2001; Naranjo & Hernández; Nowak, 1999; peyton, 1987; Servheen, Herrero, & Peyton, 1999)
