Andean bears love to wander the forests in search of fruits and other goodies. What they do not like, apparently, is being photographed by those annoying, flashing trail-cams.
The accompanying video, titled, "Andean Bears Hate Paparazzi," includes a series of stop-action photographs showing Andean bears destroying hidden cameras in the Bolivian jungle.
Watch between 25 and 30 seconds as three bears, all pawing at a camera on a tree trunk, are scattered briefly by the flashing unit. Another camera-destroying team effort begins at about 48 seconds.
Lilian Painter, a Wildlife Conservation Society biologist, is quoted in Mongabay as saying, "Andean bears are very curious animals. "But they are also very strong, and the cameras are like big, flashing toys. Still we were able to record important images that will allow us to better understand their distribution, abundance and behavior, and conserve these delightful bEars into the future."
Andean bears, also called spectacled bears, are South America's only bear species, and are listed as "vulnerable" by the ICUN Red List, facing threats that include deforestation, mining and poaching.
They inhabit the forested mountains of Bolivia, Venezuela, Colombia, Ecuador, and Peru. Their preferred habitat is high-altitude grasslands and dense cloud forests.
Because the favor steep, remote regions, they are rarely seen, and revered by some Andean indigenous tribes as spiritual mediators, according to the WCS.
Recent population estimates place the number of wild Andean bears at about 18,000.
–Pete Thomas, via GrindTv Outdoor
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