Tremarctos ornatus
Silhouette: Steven Traver · PhyloPic
In 3 days ~20% in a week ~40%
The spectacled bear (Tremarctos ornatus), also known as the Andean bear, is a species of bear native to the Andes Mountains in northern and western South America. It is the only living species of bear native to South America, and the last remaining short-faced bear (subfamily Tremarctinae). Unlike other omnivorous bears, the diet of the spectacled bear is mostly herbivorous. The species is classified as vulnerable by the IUCN because of habitat loss.
Tremarctos ornatus is commonly referred to in English as the "spectacled bear", a reference to the light colouring on its chest, neck and face, which may resemble spectacles in some individuals, or the "Andean bear" for its distribution along the Andes. The root trem comes from a Greek word meaning "hole"; arctos is the Greek word for "bear". Tremarctos is a reference to an unusual hole on the animal's humerus. Ornatus, Latin for "decorated", is a reference to the markings that give the bear its common English name. T. ornatus is locally known as jukumari (Aymara and Quechua), ukumari or ukuku (Quechua); translating to "hole bear", the tan facial markings usually appear on the face except around the bear's eyes, making it... Wikipedia →
Call0:15
Ecuador · 2025
© Marc Anderson · XC978271 · CC BY-NC-ND 4.0
| # | Park | Country | Daily sighting probability |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Chingaza National Natural Park | 🇨🇴 Colombia | |
| 2 | Podocarpus National Park | 🇪🇨 Ecuador | |
| 3 | Manu National Park | 🇵🇪 Peru |
With luck
About 10% of wildlife watchers report an Andean Bear sighting in Manu National Park on a given day, based on 8 verified sightings from GBIF citizen-science data from 2019 to 2026. It is the 38th most-seen of the 42 mammals we can rate there. Over three days the chance rises to about 20%, and over a week to about 40%, if each day is a fresh chance.
October
In that month about 20% of wildlife watchers report an Andean Bear in Manu National Park on a given day, against under 5% in August–September and November–May, the lowest months.
Between 1 and 4 pm
Across all the parks we cover, that three-hour window holds the most Andean Bear sightings with a recorded time, and about 9 in 10 of them come between 6 am and 6 pm: it is a daytime animal.
3rd of 3
Of the 3 parks where we can rate Andean Bear sightings, Manu National Park ranks 3rd at about 10%. The best odds are in Chingaza National Natural Park (Colombia, about 60%) and Podocarpus National Park (Ecuador, about 10%).
Same order: Carnivora
The closest relatives of the Andean Bear that you can see in Manu National Park (order Carnivora, Carnivorans) are Giant Otter (about 30%), Ocelot (about 10%) and Jaguar (about 10%), with each one's daily chance of a sighting.
GBIF citizen-science records
It is estimated from how often the Andean Bear is recorded against all the mammals logged in Manu National Park (8 verified sightings from 2019 to 2026), calibrated against known sighting rates. Figures are rounded to the nearest 10% because citizen-science data supports honest approximations, not decimals, and months with records from fewer than five people show "—". How it works.
