Andean Bear Cubs Snacking on Honeycomb at the San Diego Zoo Are Too Cute
Who doesn't like getting the occasional surprise treat? A lucky Andean bear and her cubs were treated to some 'hives' full of honeycomb recently at the San Diego Zoo, and they seemed to enjoy not only eating it, but digging around to find it!
ABC News shared a video on Sunday, April 14th of the bears enjoying a sweet treat from hives they were given. The hives were actually gourds filled with honeycomb that zookeepers hung around their habitat for the bears to find. Watch as they enjoy the yummy treats!
ABC News explained in their caption that zookeepers place the honeycomb in gourds to mimic beehives that the bears would find in the wild. They then have to break open the gourds, just like in the wild. I guess the zoo doesn't want a bunch of bees and beehives hanging around!
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Where Do Andean Bears Live in the Wild?
I've never heard of or seen Andean bears before, so I did a little digging to find out more about them. National Geographic shared some interesting facts about them that provided information about these relatively unknown bears.
Andean bears are also called Spectacled bears and are South America's only bear. They live in the dense Andean jungles, so it makes sense they'd be called Andean bears. But why they are called spectacled bears amused me, "Spectacled bears are so named for the whitish to yellowish rings that encircle their eyes, resembling large eyeglasses. These lines, however, don't always fully encircle the eyes, and some individuals lack the markings altogether."
Compared to other bears, these bears are relatively small, "Males, which are significantly larger than females, grow over 5 feet in length and weigh up to 340 pounds. Females rarely weigh more than 180 pounds." I still wouldn't want to run into one out in the jungle! The chances of that happening though are slim. They are described as "intensely shy bears" and they prefer to live in the isolated cloud forests on the slopes of the Andes, where they climb as high as 14,000 feet.
They're solitary animals for the most part and the only time you'll find males and females together is during mating season. Females usually give birth to one or two cubs that will remain with mom for up to eight months, often hitching a ride on the mother’s back.
While they are not listed as an endangered species, their numbers in the wild continue to decline. Like many animals, Andean bears populations decline mainly due to the destruction and fragmentation of their habitats. They are also hunted for their meat and body parts, and farmers kill them as agricultural pests since they are known to raid cornfields. Fortunately, many zoos like the San Diego Zoo are safe havens for animals and they educate the public about animals that we may never otherwise get to see.
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