LIMA, Peru (AP) — A spectacled bear has been born at a sanctuary built by a Peruvian farming community that has protected the animals for more than two decades.
The bear cub, which has not yet been named, was discovered after park rangers in the community of Santa Catalina de Chongoyape in northern Peru noticed that a female bear named Lola was not leaving her den.
“They heard different noises and only in the last few days did the little bear come out with his mother,” said Edivar Carrasco, the community president.
The bear was born in mid-July and is the second birth after the birth of a female bear six years ago. The birth took place in a fenced area of several hectares, where sick bears are fed and cared for.
The farming community manages an ecological reserve where spectacled bears (Tremarctos ornatus) and other animals, such as the white-winged guan (Penelope albipennis), are not hunted and can find a safe habitat in the carob trees and other flora.
According to the International Union for Conservation of Nature’s Red List of Threatened Species, the spectacled bear is a vulnerable species.
It is known worldwide thanks to Paddington Bear, a 1958 children’s book character created by British writer Michael Bond.
